There Be Dragons
by Peronronchinos Dad
Summary: An imagination of life for True Dragon Lords prior to their near-extinction by the hands of the Eight Greed Kings 500 years ago. Look through the eyes of Yasilithi Ragrivin, a Red Dragon who embarks on a journey he never expected to have.
1. Chapter 1

Yasilithi Ragrivin opened his eyes. His acute draconic senses tells him that the sun's blaze is about to touch the land. He opened his mouth in a yawning motion, and flapped his wings. He stood up on all fours, stretched, and chanted a morning prayer to the sun.

"May your holy light shine upon our blessed lands."

As he watched the sun slowly creep up the sky, he flew up to his perch to perform his morning duty. Atop a giant cave, built and ornately decorated by troll slaves to make life for dragons as luxurious as possible, a perch jutted out for the sun bearer to sound the morning call. Yasilithi stood on that perch, reared his head back, and as the rays of the sun rose in the horizon, he let out a mighty ROAR.

The sound reverberated throughout the cave, piercing through thin walls and intricate mazes that snake around the cave. Dragon and slave alike rose to the sound of the roar, which signals preparations for the former and routines to handle for the latter.

Despite having a relatively easy life with slaves handling most of the work, dragons still had enemies to be wary of, and everyone had to be prepared for war at the moment's ready. Draconic politics is very finicky at best, and war could be declared because of the wrong word said. Yasilithi did not believe in declaring war because a slave said the wrong word or the wrong dish was served, but swallowing one's pride was something the truly powerful could not grasp. Or perhaps they could not afford to swallow their own pride for fear of looking weak?

In any event, the caravans must be prepared for the day, and trading to begin soon. Dragons placed value in anything that is shiny and rare, with the highest regards for the rarest shiny materials like gold, platinum, or gemstones. These are used as currency, and are traded by weight. The standard mass used for measurement is a Dragon Egg, since all dragon eggs always start off as the same weight, no matter the size of the dragon. The rarer the material, the more commodities they can trade for per dragon egg.

Commodities include livestock such as cows and elephants, as well as large marine animals. Slaves are also frequently traded around. While certain dragon territories have no qualms with eating slaves as well as livestock, the dragons of the territory Yasilithi is in scoffs at such barbaric acts, and sees this as a primitive form of dragon behavior. They believe that one must be driven to desperation to resort to eating slaves, and to be driven to desperation is unfit for a dragon. A wealthy city would have more than enough production to feed all of its inhabitants, and if there aren't enough, then trade deals could be made.

Slaves are expected to craft their own tools, and tend to themselves. So long as they remain subservient to their dragon lords, and drop whatever they're doing to serve a dragon's needs, they are permitted to do whatever they need to survive. A slave that is on a dragon's errand will wear a dragon's emblem, which forms when a dragon casts an extremely cheap [Brand] wild magic spell. It fades at the discretion of the commanding dragon. Some slaves are under permanent servitude to certain dragons that personally bought them, and will always be wearing the [Brand] of their master.

Because slaves procreate on their own, excess amounts of slaves are either sold off or used as souls for costly Magic spells. In times of war, slaves with high reproduction rates become high in demand for their incredibly useful nature of rapidly replenishing numbers for use in Magic spells. The most popular slaves are troll slaves due to their extreme resiliency to abuse and longevity. Their only downside is that they are often overworked and die, causing their population to slowly decline over time, thus are always worth dozens of silver Dragon Eggs each. Ratmen, Goblins, and Antkins are popular for use in war, due to their extreme subservient nature and ability to replace numbers in an incredibly rapid manner. However, outside of warfare, their numbers could get out of hand, and thus must be reigned in during times of peace. Humans and dwarves are popular for their ability to design and smelt their precious metals into proper currencies. They're also extremely easy to train, but because of their weak bodies and high maintenance, only a small number are kept around.

Yasilithi, a dragon from the minor house Ragrivin, was a fairly powerful dragon, trained from birth by his mother and passed his test of combat crafted by his father, and succeeded in raising the status of his family by becoming a knight to the ruling House Loern. As a member of the Loern Knights, servitude to their superiors is an expected virtue. The Knights are considered the strongest class of dragons outside of the ruling House, and command unrivaled respect. However, these dragons must keep their pride in check, because an unruly knight damages the reputation of the House that they represent, and can cost a battle if an order was not heeded. Such behavior, that a dragon must be subservient to another dragon, would've been considered a peculiar sight, but dragons believed that the strongest have the right to rule. It was the law of nature that dragons are on the very top of the pyramid, and by that law, all who walk the land, sapient or not, must serve dragonkind as their masters. With this logic, only the strongest amongst the dragons deserve to wield power over other dragons. And thus, by this law, dragons are content with serving one of their own that is stronger than themselves. Yasilithi is on the second highest ladder in the draconic social ladder, right below Loern and above rank and file draconic soldiers. Not only was it his job to protect Loern territory, as sun bearer, it was his job to "wake the sun". The roar that he sounded was an alarm not just for the dragons of Loern territory, it was also to aid the sun in rising up into the sky.

Loern dragons believed that the sun is actually an ancient primordial dragon that has transcended physical manifestation, and now serves as the herald of light, warmth, and life. The dragon's name, "Sun", waged a timeless war against his rival deity, "Moon", and sought to beat back the darkness each day. The roar is meant to give the sun strength, that dragonkind did not forget His deeds. In exchange for the roar, Sun would give dragons the life-giving light. As the day progresses, the Sun's energy would peak at noon, and wan until the darkness comes again. The Night Bearer then roars into the night to signal good-bye to the Sun, and ward off the Moon.

Some believed that it was Sun who originally created Wild Magic and taught it to dragonkind. Others believed that Wild Magic originally was the Moon's power, but the Sun purged it's evil nature and gave dragonkind its magic. And yet others believed that Wild Magic has been the power of dragons from the start, ever since the world gave birth to life. The oldest of dragons had either forgotten the origins, or had died in battle.

House Loern in particular has been, for countless millennia, one of the mightiest House in the continent, second to few other Houses and the Dragon Emperor himself. These are warrior dragons, gifted not in the art of Wild Magic, but in the art of melee combat. This gives them an edge over other Houses that heavily rely on Wild Magic, of which cannot even be used to harm other dragons. The Wild Magic used in House Loern and a few other Houses are primarily used to buff themselves or their subordinates in battle, so that claws can rend scales easier, muscles work more efficiently, or for draconic breath to deal more damage. This made Loern dragons extremely deadly in draconic combat, but their lack of specialty in Wild Magic leaves them vulnerable to endless numbers of slave armies assaulting them. While dragons are the mightiest individuals, they do not have damage immunity and finite health. Enough slave numbers would quickly overwhelm a small squad of dragons if they're caught off position, even if the slaves deal what amounts to scratches in damage. It would literally be a death by a thousand cuts, or at least, weaken the dragons until another detachment of enemy dragons are sent to deal with the squad in question.

As Yasilithi watched the draconic city rise up to his call, he noticed something strange in the distance. Several strange shapes formed on the horizon, making tiny blips of shadows against the sun's light. Below them, an amorphous blob covered the land. Yasilithi's sharp senses tells him that the ground was rumbling in the distance. His heart skipped a beat. This was too large, and too soon, for a caravan escort. He quickly rushed out of the cave, and towards the top of the mountain. He stood on the perch and peered to the east. Due to the sun lighting up the horizon, it was difficult for Yasilithi to see what he was looking for - a lit beacon. Almost as if it was planned by those in the distance. If Yasilithi waits too long to call the troops, then the hostile forces might be upon them before the armed forces could mobilize. However, if it was a delegation of other House dragons visiting...

Yasilithi decided to play it safe. He placed a necklace imbued with a weak Wild Magic spell, [Expanded Acoustics], around his neck and shouted, "Sound the alarm! Possible hostile forces, due east! Warn the House, and mobilize the Knights!"

Almost instantly, the orders were shouted further down the cave network, and Knights poured out of their homes to defend the territory. Non-combatant slaves were locked into their pens, and Antkins were rolled out into the fields. They quickly dug trenches and placed wooden stakes into the ground, working in unison. Each trench forms a semicircle around the entrance of the cave, and once the Antkins are done, they either fight the enemy slaves or get sacrificed for Wild Magic. What should've taken humans weeks to complete only took the Antkin several hours. Special slave troops specializing in ranged combat stood at the rear, ready to launch devastating projectiles towards the enemy. While the projectiles won't hurt a dragon, it will reduce the amount of enemy slaves that can fight. This was drilled into the slaves whenever an attack is coming, which comes frequently enough that drills are warranted despite the cost of slaves not working on whatever they need to do. This was because despite the might of dragons, slave defenders are still quite useful due to their sheer number. They are also useful for taking the brunt of enemy slave forces, if there are any.

Long ago, dragons were too prideful to use slaves in combat, but the rare slave uprisings taught dragons the tedious nature of dealing with massive waves of slaves willing to die for their cause. The more intelligent Houses began to utilize slave armies to beef up their offensive power, after observing how effective numbers can be even against the mightiest enemy. These Houses were branded cowards by other ancient dragon Houses. Those too prideful to use slave armies had their lands shrunk over time, until they were eventually wiped out or converted into the new age of draconic warfare. They have learned that pride means nothing if their Houses eventually gets wiped out. Eventually, shaped by millennia of learning and drilling, slave armies are fanatically loyal to their dragon masters, giving their life for even the simplest of Wild Magic casts. The composition of slave armies are determined by the size of the territory, the terrain, and how much the dragons can afford to maintain. House Loern is a very wealthy House, with abundant fertile lands, so it is able to maintain a large standing slave army that doubles as a productive workforce. They primarily deploy large numbers of antkins, cave trolls, and mountain giants. From their forests, they have enormous villages composed of goblins and ogres.

Modern draconic tactics now even employ specialized slave troops that are bred specifically for war. Their utility in warfare range from destroying enemy production by killing off their non-combatant slaves to bearing the brunt of a draconic assault without too many slaves dying. House Loern in particular employs far more slave troops than most other Houses to compensate for their relatively weak Wild Magic specialization, although the commanders within the House aren't known to be the best strategists, preferring to throw raw numbers than worrying about efficiency. However, this means that Loern has the largest slave army in terms of numbers, as well as the highest potential to grow their numbers further. Unless several Houses unite their slave armies, Loern is almost guaranteed to overwhelm any opposition.

Commander Svalinn Loern, the de-facto Knight Commander in a general defense scenario, ordered the dragons to take flight to deal with airborne invaders. Two dozen giant dragons took flight above the mountain cave entrance. Her steady voice had the confidence of a thousand battles under her wings.

"Ready your breaths! Steady your wings! We shall feast on the flesh of our enemies today! The Sun shall witness our might!" She then casted a wide-area buff that augmented all dragons' natural weapons, like claws, wings, and breath. Below, several dozen Antkins suddenly collapsed, their souls spent. Several dozen more Antkins moved their bodies away and readily replaced them. By now, the horizon army drew closer, and a clearer picture could be painted. The sun was also higher up in the air. In the horizon, a sign of a collapsed beacon had smoke wafting into the air. The beacon was lit, but the black smoke rising up was a sign that it was destroyed. Definitely hostile forces.

"Who is foolish enough to attack Loern territory?" Yasilithi growled. Several other Knights grunted in agreement.

"A confident enemy. They destroyed the beacon, and killed the garrison of troops stationed there. They are prepared for an invasion. And we'll stop them here," Svalinn answered. She looked at the incoming army with steel in her eyes.

"Shall we charge? We have the number advantage," asked a Knight. He was referring to their superior slave numbers.

"No, we will hold our ground. We mustn't throw away our one advantage," Svalinn replied. She looked around.

"I'm unsure if this is a sufficient number of Knights to deal with the enemy dragons, but the Knights' duties are to ensure the survival of the House." She frowned.

"Then this must mean each Knight must kill at least three enemy dragons!" roared another knight.

Knights are reliably strong enough to emerge from most fights victorious. That was how stringent the recruitment process was for a dragon. While all dragons are powerful in their own right, some dragons choose to live a life unmarked by combat. These dragons, during a time of war or defense of the city, are expected to be conscripted into the dragon army. All dragons above age 400 are to defend the city until the assault is finished. Usually, however, these dragons aren't expected to hold their weight, as they were not bred for combat from birth. They make up a sizable chunk of the non-Knight Loern troops. Thus, in times of war, they're usually the first casualties when the fighting is done. A single Knight would, in general, be able to best three of these non-combatant dragons in a full-on melee battle, two regular troop dragons, and tie with their peers.

Enemy draconic soldiers may have a different set of rules for their own armies. However, it would be unheard of for commanders to include dragons that can't fight efficiently into their army, since that would hurt the productivity of a city. Therefore, when the Knight said that each Knight must be worth 3 enemy dragons, he really meant for each dragon to die with three bodies to their name.

The enemy army slowly rumbled closer, but it appeared that their speed had slowly picked up. They were aware of the fact that Loern has been hastily throwing together a defense, and were trying to take advantage of an underprepared defense. A force of around 100 dragons could be counted flying in the sky, with countless number of slaves running below them. Given how massive the numbers were, it had probably destroyed the beacon garrison force before any survivors could send a message to the mountain city. Svalinn sensed that something was wrong, and sent messenger slaves running to other cities to warn them of a coming threat, and to request reinforcements to the frontlines. While it is possible to teleport using Wild Magic, the soul cost of teleportation is extremely expensive, and only one slave could be teleported per cast. It was better to wait for the messengers to reach their destinations and hold out for reinforcements.

Antkins continued to dig trenches and placing sharp wooden stakes within them, stopping only when the enemy troops are upon them. Between each trench lay thousands of caltrops, to slow and damage the waves of invaders. Several trenches lay between the defenders and their assaulting army, although this still wouldn't stop a majority of the invaders. Several long-distance slave snipers with specially enchanted bows took position in the mountain's murder holes. The bows are enchanted with magic that allows the users to be strong enough to knock back a giant with a single arrow, and is able to pierce even the scales of a draconic warrior. The reason why the bows cannot be mass produced, given their awesome power, was because only the most loyal slaves could equip them, and the amount of souls required to enchant each bow was staggering. While the amount of souls depend on the skill of the dragon enchanting it, even the most efficient itemweaver would still require a costly amount of soul.

The mountain itself has several entrances, but the largest entrance was the place where the invaders picked their assault. The quality of Loern Knights shine when fighting in tight spaces. This lessens the impact of superior enemy draconic forces, as it allows each Knight to crush only one or two dragon soldiers at a time, which the smaller entrances allow. The other gates were also manned by the rest of the Knights, which means even if the enemy tried to flank, they'll be met with stiff resistance. However, the main entrance was large enough for several dozen adult dragons to comfortably fly in and out simultaneously. While there were murderholes built into the top of the mountain entrance for snipers to shoot from, it's still not enough defenses for the city to defend from an onslaught of dragons. Slaves are not strong enough to harm dragons badly enough without proper equipment, and dragons do not trust their slaves with the power to challenge their rule. Therefore, if the Knights lost their battle, the city is lost.

Soon, the enemy slave army rushed into the trenches that the Antkin was building, and engaged in combat with the numerous ant-like heteromorphs. The advantage of the Antkins were their almost telepathic ability to send messages to one another, allowing every Antkin to essentially be each other's eye. They have no blindspots as a result, if they're fighting in a group, but their strength comes from sheer numbers rather than individual combat power. Thus, if the enemy forces outnumber them, they will quickly be wiped out.

As soon as the Antkins were finished off, the slaves started to pile into the trenches without any regard for their own life. Caltrops slowed down and even killed some due to excessive bleeding, but more slaves just piled over the bodies of their dead comrades. The dragons hung back, keeping out of range of the snipers. Svalinn started to look worried. It wasn't because of the enemy slaves baring down on their territory, as dragons do not concern themselves with ants that significantly harm them. She was more worried about the amount of enemy dragons. She had 24 Knights by her side, about 100 conscripted dragon troops, and 5 other Loern family members within the citadel. She estimated that the number of enemy dragons must number around 200 to 300 dragons. She turned to Yasilithi.

"Call every last Knight to the front lines. Leave the regular guards to the side entrances. My family should be able to deal with any no-name dragons. All dragons who are still undergoing the Test of Combat are to report to the front lines. This will be their Test of Combat."

"My Lady, even the freshlings who have just started their Tests?"

Svalinn sighed, and wavered. The Test of Combat was the rite of passage for all Young to enter into adulthood. It tests their basic draconic abilities, such as their breath, hand-to-hand techniques, and their affinity for Wild Magic. The mothers usually teach their Young and the fathers issue the test. While the test isn't something one can fail, it gauges a dragon's ability to fight. If a Young performs poorly, they're confined to apprenticing as caravaners, crafters, or other second-class citizen jobs. The ones who passed spectacularly are referred to House Loern to receive special training to become a Knight. Those who are average are permitted to do whatever they please. Every dragon who have completed the test receives a ring with a symbol indicating their performance level. Yasilithi was one of the very few who was able to even best his father in mock combat, and survive the brutal training Knights are required to go through. It is evident that Svalinn is grasping for anything that can fight because Young dragons still have scales soft enough to get hurt by well trained slaves, but given the number of enemy dragons and the importance of the city, she had no choice but to draw on this pool of combatants.

Yasilithi swiftly flew back into the cave. As soon as he did, the enemy dragons made their move. They had noticed that the number had dipped by one, and decided to charge. The difference of one knight is life or death for both his comrades and the enemy. Each Knight was trained to work perfectly in tandem with each other, so one less Knight means that their formation could not hold out as long.

Svalinn glanced at the disappearing silhouette of Yasilithi, and prayed that he makes a swift return. Then she focused on the enemy ahead of her.

"FLY, KNIGHTS!"

Every Knight rushed forward. The dragon troops that stayed on the ground opened their mouths, and unleashed a large torrent of fire, lightning, frost, and other elemental breaths. Even if the fighting ability of regular and conscripted troops are weaker than Knights, all breaths are more or less the same strength. It was a good opening attack that can devastate enemy ranks.

The enemy dragons opened with their own breaths. The sky was soon filtered with the awesome might of draconic breaths, with different elements clashing with each other. The slave troops on the ground filled the enemy airspace with flying projectiles, like stones and arrows. Even if the projectiles cannot pierce draconic scales, a lucky hit in the eye or soft tissue where scales do not cover can be debilitating. The projectiles will also land on enemy slaves, softening the impact of their charge.

Knight and soldier clashed. The first dozen dragons perished easily to the Knight's enhanced claws and teeth. But for every dragon that falls, another takes its place. The enemy soldiers were evidently not used to fierce resistance, while each Knight was trained to deal with multiple enemies at the same time. The formation of the Knights were unbreakable; it a wall that was capable of easily rending dragon scale. The enemy wavered after several waves of dragons perished from engaging in combat. However, the numbers were on their side, and the Knights did not have unlimited stamina.

And thus, the Battle of the Mountain City began.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The city was constructed by slaves, but it was ancient dragon architects that designed and molded the walls. Despite the walls of the cave standing for countless millennia, the atmosphere did not give a sense of desiccation. This was because the ancient dragon architects sacrificed the souls of hordes of slaves to imbue the city structure with perpetual preservation magic. Time will not crumble the walls of the city so long as Loern dragons walk the earth.

The city was built in such a way that it would be a complete labyrinth for newcomers and invaders. The city was incredibly hostile to non-draconic entities, since there were dead ends and sheer falls. These obstacles were considered trivial for dragons, because of their ability to fly, but the slaves had to memorize the city structure so they wouldn't die in a wrong turn. This wasn't because the dragon architects hated slaves, it was because they simply didn't consider slaves to be important enough to accommodate for. Coincidentally, this made the city hard for enemy slave armies to navigate. Entire battalions could be lost in the maze, making them food for the livestock or slaves. The city was also built to confuse draconic diplomats, so that they require a guide to navigate the city, which doubly serves as a way to keep an eye on them. However, for Loern dragons and their citizens, they knew the city like the scales of their talons. This made the defense of the city, in the event that the first line of defense crumbled, give a significant home field advantage to Loern.

Yasilithi navigated the dark corridors, lit sparsely for the convenience of races that do not possess dark vision, towards the inner sanctum of the city. The Loern dragons and their knights reside in a gigantic opulent citadel in the center of the mountain. The walls of the citadel were lined with gems and precious metals imported from other Loern territories that were intricately carved by the hands of artisan-specialized slaves, and imbued with Wild Magic that strengthened the defense of the walls. It would take an incredibly powerful Wild Spell to even scratch the walls of the citadel. The entrance of the citadel is hidden, and can only be opened by activating a switch on the opposite end of the citadel.

The slaves within these walls were well fed, powerfully built, and fiercely loyal. While they had powerful souls, they were too important to sacrifice for Wild Magic. Given how weak Loern magic was, it was better to have meatshields soak the brunt of enemy dragons than to sacrifice them for a small boost to their own combat abilities. There were several hundred of these slaves, whose race ranged from cave trolls to quagoa to hobgoblins. They were all equipped with powerfully enchanted shieldbows, which were specifically enchanted to harm dragons. This made their combat abilities more potent against dragons than even the snipers of the frontlines. These slaves had not been deployed out into the frontlines because their entire lives were dedicated to the servitude and protection of the masters of the citadel. Unsurprisingly, all the slaves had the Brand of Loern embedded onto their foreheads.

When Yasilithi opened the citadel doors, his sharp draconic sense picked up more than a hundred bows trained on his body. Through superior training, every slave did not fire because they recognized his dark red scales. Imerina Loern, mother of Svalinn Loern and commander of the defense of the citadel, flew up to Yasilithi.

"Child, why are you here?"

While Yasilithi was an ancient dragon, alive for more than half a millennia, Imerina's age far exceeds his own. It was abnormal for dragons to live for more than a millennia except for the truly powerful, and Imerina was much more ancient than that. To her, in both strength and experience, Yasilithi was still little more than a child.

She narrowed her eyes. Desertion of a Knight's duties is an act of cowardice, and is punishable by death.

"Lady Imerina, Lady Svalinn wishes to call all dragons to the front lines."

Yasilithi bowed in respect to his superior. Imerina fluttered to a perch, and pondered.

"My daughter knows that the city would give us a home field advantage. Why would she want to pull all dragons to the front?"

Knowing that this is merely a rhetorical question, Yasilithi stayed silent.

"Knight, how many enemy dragons?"

"Exact numbers cannot be determined, my lady, but we estimate around 300."

Imerina whipped her head towards Yasilithi in shock.

"300?! How did the enemy muster 300 soldiers?"

Yasilithi bowed his head.

"I do not know, my lady."

Yasilithi watched Imerina fall into deep thought. If she refused to call her family to the front lines, then Yasilithi has no choice but to report back to Svalinn without the aid of her family members. From what Yasilithi could gather, Imerina is probably pondering the strategic value of throwing all of their cards into the front line defense.

"Is the enemy holding back their troops?"

"As far as I know, yes. Their slaves are initializing the assault."

"They plan on launching a siege. My daughter wishes to crush the enemy dragons and mop up the slave armies..."

"My lady, as I left my post, I heard the roars of many dragons. I fear my absence may have initiated an enemy assault."

"Then that is even better. The situation would've been different if they continue to hold back. We'll crush their dragons and feed their slaves to our livestock."

Imerina donned her Expanded Acoustics necklace, turned around, and shouted, "Father! Brothers! The front line calls to us! May the Sun witness our glorious battle!"

From within the citadel, several large dragons lumbered out. The Loern dragons have a reputation of evoking a fearsome aura. This is in part due to their abnormally large size. Yasilithi is by no means a small dragon. In fact, he is larger than the average dragon himself, measuring at around 45 meters from tail to snout. Loern dragons, however, are giant amongst gigantic beasts, averaging 50 to 60 meters. Even Svalinn and Imerina dwarf his size.

"Hah! I long to taste blood! It has been centuries since I've fought a good fight. Sparring with family gets dull after a while."

The patriarch of the family, and one of the oldest living dragons, Teverin Loern has been a soldier for longer than Yasilithi's own father has been alive. Teverin was so ancient, he still remembers the age when dragons fought without slave armies, and he himself was one of the old guard that refused to use slave armies until his family forced him to swallow his immense pride. Imerina and her brothers had fought Teverin for the right to use slaves in their fight for dominance over ancient lands, and after a brutal battle that changed entire landscapes, the combined might of three Loern dragons managed to beat arguably the strongest warrior in the world. Teverin once fought for the title of Dragon Emperor, but refused to talk about the outcome.

Two other large dragons flew up behind their father, flocked by several Knights in training.

"Father, it is best..."

"...That we stay prudent. Even you cannot defeat..."

"...An army by yourself."

Jozi and Joti Loern were twin dragons, sharing the same black scaling pattern. From birth to Younghood, they were so weak, Teverin grew disgusted by them and casted them from the family. However, when Imerina enlisted their help in fighting their father for the right to use slave troops, he witnessed that they were significantly more powerful working together than apart. It could be said that without their help, Imerina would not have been able to prevent the extinction of their House. Unlike other dragons, Jozi and Joti were not easily blinded by pride and arrogance, which allowed them to provide valuable strategic insight for their family. They were responsible for teaching Knight fledglings the meaning of teamwork and loyalty.

"Bah! I'll bet you ten of those fools can't match my fury!"

Teverin's mouth split into a savage smile.

"Boy! How many of them are out there?"

Yasilithi opened his mouth to respond, but Imerina interrupted him.

"Father, no matter the number, the twins' words are not to be taken lightly."

Teverin growled at Imerina, then turned to Yasilithi. Imerina cowered, and looked away.

"I'll ask again. How many are there?"

"About 300, Master Loern."

Teverin paused, then burst out laughing.

"Good! A challenge! It's time we root out the weak anyway!"

Yasilithi bowed his head, but the twins both fluttered their wings in disbelief. Imerina closed her eyes and grimaced.

"Those numbers..."

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Normally, dragon territories could muster hundreds of soldiers for war. Loern was no different. But they still need to have soldiers at their own territories to keep the peace and to defend from other invaders. Usually, they send about half of their troops into invading other territories. No single House could muster 300 soldiers at once to invade a territory unless they left a skeleton crew to protect and maintain their personal territories. Dragons were also extremely prideful and are prone to disobeying orders. Keeping order within the ranks of 300 dragons was extremely difficult.

The reason why Loern Knights were so loyal and submissive to their commanders was because of their training process. In the beginning of training, they were permitted to fight the Twins in groups of ten, and the Knight fledglings were always beaten nearly to death. Then halfway through their training, they were permitted to attack Teverin in groups of ten, using whatever method they wish, and were always soundly defeated. After Knighthood, they were able permitted to attack Teverin again. Usually at this point, most Knights had learnt their lessons and choose to submit. Those who do not were brutally killed. This was done to establish Loern as the undisputed masters of their territory. Knights witnessed first hand how strong their commanders were, and the trauma of being beaten nearly to death by a single dragon will haunt them if thoughts of rebellion arise. This made it simpler for them to follow orders without question, despite their naturally huge ego.

This process also made the number of Knights low. Svalinn currently has command of 24 Knights by her side, including Yasilithi. The other 36 Knights are defending the six side entrances, evenly split apart, some of which lead to dead end traps. Another 15 Knights are accompanying various caravans. 10 Knights and a large contingent of slaves are currently bodyguarding Teverin's mate and the matriarch of the Loern, Pakuri, who is sending tribute to the Dragon Emperor.

Branch family members and vassals dotted the other cities within Loern territory, which housed more Knights, but they were all of lower quality, and they utilize the more common House troops, which were regular draconic soldiers conscripted for war when their Test of Combat performance was above average. These dragons received minimal training, and were then thrusted into war. Their loyalty was questionable at best, until they witnessed the mighty aura of Teverin whenever he visited other parts of his vast kingdom. Since teleportation Wild Magic is a common spell that even Loern can use relatively efficiently, and the mountain domain that Loern dragons live in has large numbers of slaves that they can sacrifice at their whim, Teverin and his family was an active threat to cities and vassal territories that fell out of line. Historically, Teverin and his family had razed only a few cities to ashes, and they were only to serve as an example. No territory had tried to split after hearing stories of how savage the Loern dragons and their Knights were in battle. Incidentally, the reason why Imerina and her brothers didn't try and split off from Teverin was because their father commanded their respect as the dominant dragon when they fought each other.

Their emphasis on quality over quantity may have backfired when in face of overwhelming numbers, however. Even if Teverin were to muster all of his troops into battle, fighting off 300 dragons and winning would require a miracle. This was why Jozi and Joti were worried about their situation. While dragons have incredible stamina, they don't have an unlimited amount of stamina. Like all living beings, they will eventually get tired. Teverin, being the combat fanatic that he is, probably thought that he just needed to fight 300 dragons one at a time to win.

Yasilithi bowed and replied, "I believe that is why Svalinn requires your help in the battlefield."

The twins pondered for a bit, flew off to a distant perch for a brief moment, then flew back.

"The odds are stacked against us."

"But we believe we have a fighting chance."

"If father joins us in battle..."

"Then we might win."

They looked at Teverin, who cracked another savage smile back at them. They then looked at Imerina, who nodded at them.

"Lead us to the front, Knight."

"Svalinn also wishes for me to pull all Knights from the side entrances to the front, as well as have those who are undergoing the Test of Combat to join the front."

Jozi turned to Imerina, and chuckled.

"Your daughter has learned well."

Joti turned to Yasilithi.

"However, to leave our flanks open is suicide. As the Supreme Commander of the Knights, I rescind that order. While we will need the Knights in the front, the Young shall attend the side gates. We shall meet at the front."

Jozi then turned to the Knights in Training.

"You shall lead the Younglings in the defense of the side gates. Split amongst yourself, and may the Sun light your path."

Yasilithi bowed, and shouted, "I hear and obey! Glory to the Loern! May the Sun shine brightly on our enemy's corpses!"

—

The glint of shining bows met the eyes of the slaves in the front at first. Then they caught sight of the Brand of Loern featured prominently on the foreheads of various powerfully built slaves. Whispers spread like wildfire amongst the slave ranks that the fabled Loern slaves has joined them in battle. They called these slaves Immortals, because of their unnaturally long lifespan, possibly due to the brutal training that the Loern dragons subject them to. Of the thousands of slaves that are required to go through the brutal training process, only a few dozen make it out alive every year. This keeps the number of Immortals constant, as these slaves were never sacrificed, but were ritualistically killed when in their deathbeds. Their souls are believed to be valuable for the Sun, and to use their souls for their own Wild Magic would be selfish in the eyes of Loern. To pull them into battle was never seen before, even for the draconic soldiers housed at the mountain city.

Then four massive dragons flew out, even bigger than the already large Knights fighting ferociously in the battlefield. The dragons on the ground were ordered by Svalinn to stand their ground and continue unleashing their breath attacks onto the enemy. These dragons drew a sharp breath in, not to breathe their elemental attacks, but to gasp in awe at the masters of their city. They recognized the largest dragon, nearly an entire wing's length larger than themselves, as Teverin, and have heard stories of his skill in combat.

Then they witnessed more Knights flying out than they've ever seen before, led by a dragon with dark red scales they recognized as their Sunbearer. The soldiers realized that this was unprecedented, and that the seat of House Loern will be tested by the aftermath of the battle. Some began to pray to the Sun for their lives.

The slaves on the ground sensed the unease of their masters, and began to shift uneasily themselves. They could see the enemy slaves lumbering ever so slightly to their own front, with enemy trolls leading the charge to mitigate the damaging effects of caltrop traps.

The Twins turned to the Knights.

"We'll punch a hole into their ranks!"

"Teverin will lead the charge!"

Jozi pointed towards the side of the dragon swarm.

"Father! Head for their flank!"

Teverin let out a mighty battle roar, and then charged into combat.

Several dozen enemy soldiers noticed their arrival, started to form up ranks to brace for the charge, noticed that there was a titanic dragon leading the charge, and scattered like flies. They did not even bother to warn their comrades about the charge, who were busy attacking the Knights in a spherical formation.

Teverin's charge caused several dragons to explode from impact. Gore rained down upon the enemy slave army, impeding their charge and crushing several dozen slaves. This caused the slave charge to falter, utterly demoralized, as they have never witnessed their masters explode. Dragon scales were the toughest material they knew, harder than even adamantite, yet malleable enough that bending the scale won't cause it to snap. For dragons to split apart would require incredible strength, strength that even dragons didn't think they could possess.

And yet, Teverin defied all logic and expectation.

His claws, buffed by Wild Magic using his own massive soul, shred through dragon scales as if they were made of flimsy human skin. His breath engulfed his enemies in black flame, boiling their blood and organs alive. His wings, which were the thinnest part of his body, shrugged off desperate blows made by any dragon unlucky enough to encounter him. The very first bite he made was already enough to puncture scale, and was strong enough to crush necks or tear limbs off.

And then there was his children. Each one was as savage as their father. Each one just as experienced in the art of combat. Their way of fighting is an art form: an elegant dance of death with their foes. Dragons fall without knowing what happened; limbs liberated themselves from bodies and blood poured from holes they never realized had been made.

Svalinn's Knights, who were beginning to break from nonstop fighting, breathed a visible sigh of relief. Almost a third of their number lay dead on the battlefield. Svalinn shot Yasilithi a quick look of gratitude before leading her troops to the rear.

From the beginning of battle to now, only a half an hour have passed, and yet, scores of dragons lay dying or dead. Knights fought as if they no longer cared about their own lives to defend a territory they could not call their own, which is a foreign concept for the enemy. A few Knights have also fallen, their bodies serving as platforms for enemy slaves to avoid caltrops. While there were still hundreds of enemy troops left, they were demoralized by how efficient their opponents were at killing them. And the ground troops still have not taken flight yet, continuing to belt out waves of breath attacks. Loern slaves and the regular slave troops rained arrows and projectiles towards the enemy. They began to route, slowly at first, but as comrades saw friends perish or flee, others began to do so as well. The importance of preserving their own life suddenly began to outweigh the pride of standing their ground in the battlefield. So what if they looked like a coward, desperately flying away? If a dragon had witnessed what Teverin was capable of, no one would call those who ran a coward.

Suddenly, a roar of frustration and anger rumbled throughout battlefield. Another massive dragon, though not as big as Teverin, pushed and clawed at his fleeing troops.

"Get back there and fight, you cowards!"

And yet, no one heeded those words. On the ground, the enemy slaves started to follow their masters and pull back. The slaves felt fear, but they were too loyal to flee the battlefield by themselves. This was reinforced by the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, of them lay dead or dying from caltrops, trenches, and arrow fire. If their masters fight, they fight. If their masters flee, they follow.

Yasilithi then saw one of the most massive dragons he has ever seen push through his own troops like a swarm of flies. Teverin was barely bigger than this dragon, and it dwarfed even the other Loern family members. A gasp of surprised escaped from his mouth. His keen hearing detected that he was not alone.

Teverin split a grin, and spat out blood. It was most likely other dragons' blood, but he himself didn't look any better. Claw marks marred his already scarred body, and bloody tear marks were visible on his wings. The other dragons did not look any better. Jozi, the only dragon who could grasp healing type Wild Magic enough to efficiently use them, casted a wide-area regeneration spell. On the ground, several hundred slaves fell, and were quickly moved away. Wounds slowly began to mend. The spell Jozi casted was one that accelerated a dragon's natural healing, and prevented scarring by improving the regeneration process. Joti followed suit by casting another Wild Magic spell. This time, everyone suddenly felt their stamina rapidly restoring. Another few hundred slaves died. The spell Joti casted drained soul energy to replenish stamina.

"Father... Is he really..."

Imerina's voice trailed off. The Twins looked at their sister in confusion.

"Who..."

"...Is this?"

Teverin continued to stare at the other dragon.

"My dear brother... How many millennia has it been? I thought you died. Introduce yourself to my children."

The other dragon roared in response.

"They shall not know who I am! I will murder you and your family, and finally take what's supposed to be MINE!"

Teverin's mocking smile quickly turned into a deathly sneer.

"Fine then, dear brother, you'll die an unknown nobody!"

He turned to his children and soldiers.

"Nobody interfere! Or I'll rip your skulls out and feed your head to my trolls!"

Svalinn cried out, "But mother! His wounds-"

Imerina hushed her.

"There is nothing we can do but watch. If that really is his older brother... they've had a score to settle, if my father's stories are to be trusted."

Both dragons roared at each other, one so loud and powerful, the slaves on the ground had their eardrums shattered, and several of the conscripted dragons fainted. The Knights themselves fluttered their wings in a sign of nervousness, but the Loern dragons remain stoic.

The enemy soldiers who haven't fled yet held back in the distance, not wanting to interfere. They were just as spellbound as everyone else.

The two massive dragons rushed towards each other, claws imbued with magic and extended, teeth bared and primed to bite a killing blow. They didn't bother to shower each other with breaths the split second before the clash, possibly because they knew their breaths would nullify each other, wasting precious stamina. A shockwave erupted from the the collision of their headbutts, and claws danced towards each other, ripping scale from skin. Teverin is confident in emerging victorious from nearly all battles he fought, but there were scant few individuals where even he didn't know if he could beat. His brother was one of them. Teverin swiped at his brother's wings and punctured a hole clean through the abnormally thick scales. His brother followed suit and clamped down hard on his arm, but quickly retreated to avoid the swipe that would land on his neck. Teverin's other claw was swift, but barely found its mark. It scraped at the armored plate of a scale that protected the back of his brother's skull, causing a huge gnash that had blood gushing out. The victor was still unknown.

They both had the same upbringing: learning from the same mother, and passed the same test administered by their father. Their father was strong, and so was their mother; after all, they came from a family of strong and proud dragons. Their lineage traced back to one of the first Dragon Emperors, and while they tried taking the title back, the Loern family could never do so again. This changed when the brothers were born. Specifically, when Teverin was born. His older brother passed his test with flying colors, with remarks from his parents that "he could change everything". However, everyone was surprised when Teverin passed his test: not only did he beat his father in mock battle, he actually managed to draw blood. This was unprecedented, as Youngling teeth and claws were too soft to penetrate veteran ancient dragons, especially those whose life revolves around war. His father knew, the moment he actually felt a nick of pain from his son's bite, that Teverin was special. From then on, everything Teverin did overshadowed whatever his older brother did. It shamed him to no end, that his exceptionally talented brother outshined his own accomplishments, no matter how outstanding he was. He was powerful, more so than even his own mother and father, but he could not deny that Teverin was yet stronger still, and he could not understand why.

And so, several millennia ago, the older brother butchered his family and tried to burn down everything the Loern built. However, when he confronted Teverin, he witnessed his own little brother laugh at the corpses of his parents and siblings. Dragons did not share much familial bonds, and Teverin was planning on killing everyone himself, but his older brother did the deed for him. However, Teverin was fond of his home, because he didn't want to have to start over from scratch, and decided his brother must die for burning down his abode. Both battled each other, each barely past the ancient stage of their lives, but neither could quite emerge victorious. However, Teverin had the upper hand for the majority of the battle, and forced his brother to flee to distant, unknown lands, feeble and broken.

Teverin flew around his brother, tail whipping out trying to flay his brother. His brother responded by flying upward, and breathing thick black flames at Teverin's back. Teverin spun around and launched his own breath, and then quickly flew out of the way. As if on cue, his brother exploded through the flames, and crashed into the ground, earth buckling from the extreme pressure. His thick skin and scale, along with his abnormal constitution, made him take barely any damage from the fall, with the caltrops simply flattening themselves on contact. But this slowed his momentum, and Teverin made quick work of it. Before his brother could recover, Teverin landed hard on his back. An ordinary dragon would've had his spine snap from the weight, but this was a Loern dragon. However, it still knocked the wind off of him, which momentarily stunned him again. Teverin then proceeded to claw away at his brother's back, savagely roaring while he clawed, wrapping his own tail around his brother's tail to control it from grabbing his own neck. He focused first on the wings, and after a few clean swipes, lopped a wing clean off. He then punched at his brother's skull, dazing him again, then grabbed it, then repeatedly slammed it into the earth. Teverin's leg claws dug deep into his brother's legs, severing muscle and causing it to leak blood.

Spectators could see that Teverin's brother was starting to go limp, as if he was slowly dying, but Teverin kept going. He ripped off the other wing, picked up his brother by the neck, and flung him towards a ditch filled with the corpses of enemy slaves. While his brother tried to get up, he slammed his brother into the ditch, causing the mere wooden stakes to buckle, and crushing any slave inside the ditch. Teverin ran his brother's body through the ditch, causing more bodies to be crushed and more stakes to be pulverized. With his brother's eyes and nostrils filled with wood and bone particles, he worked on dismembering his brother's tail. Teverin grabbed the tip end of the tail, and the middle of the tail, and snapped the tail in half. Moans of pain wafted from his brother's mouth, but Teverin pain him no heed. Knowing that the tail is no longer a threat, he held his brother's body up, and bit down on his neck. Teverin ripped off most of the scales away, leaving bloody patches of skin behind. Hugging and puffing, Teverin then walked back and stared at his brother's body, still breathing despite the abuse Teverin wrought onto it.

"Any last words before I crush your neck, dear brother?"

Wheezing and whimpering, his brother opened one of his eyes and muttered something almost inaudible. However, dragons have keen senses, and Yasilithi could barely hear:

"I... I don't want to die..."

There was no doubt that Teverin could hear it as well.

"Heheh... That's too bad, S- I mean, dear brother. Almost gave your name away!"

"M-my name... is... Sa-"

And before the downed dragon could finish, Teverin swiftly leapt over and clamped down in his neck with all his might. His claws batted away at his brother's flailing arms. His brother's legs were too damaged to move, and he could barely raise his tail. Soon, there was a loud snap, and the body shuddered, and fell still, like a puppet whose strings have been cut. Teverin, mouth covered in blood, and teeth glistening red, reared up towards the sky and roared.

Yasilithi was stunned. Here was a monster of a dragon, who had just fought a terrible battle, emerged filled with wounds and slightly drained, and was still able to battle an equal and emerge victorious. If this dragon fought the Dragon Emperor and lost, how powerful was the Dragon Emperor?

This was the final straw for the remaining enemy dragons. They turned tail and flew away, quickly disappearing into the horizon. Their slaves had already cleared the battlefield, following the majority of the retreating forces.

In the end, the battle took the lives of around 53 enemy dragons. A total of 12 Knights died, and a couple of conscripted soldiers were wounded. No one bothered to count how many slave lives were spent. While the numbers seemed small, the loss of twelve Knights meant that nearly a fifth of Loern's best fighting forces were dead. Given the history of how brutal the training process was for Knighthood, the current twenty or so Knights in Training would be culled down to about two or three over the next century. Even Teverin realized that he can not afford to be ambitious until his numbers were replenished enough. With the emergency over, hordes of slaves were sent out into the field to clean up the mess. Slave bodies must be picked up to be used to feed the livestock. Draconic body parts were given to the Dwarves to fashion armor, weapons, and tools for their personal use. The bodies of the fallen Knights were collected by their comrades to bury at the mountain peak. This was to ensure that the light of the Sun would shine upon their souls, so that they may be of eternal use to him in his endless battle with the Moon. Dragons resumed their daily lives, and Knights resumed patrols within the city and the immediate Loern territory.

A quick survey of the side entrances led to the discovery of dozens of dead Younglings and enemy slaves, with the Knights in Training leading the charge in a valiant defense of the side gates. Those who survived the assault were given their rings indicating that they passed their Tests with an average score.

—

Svalinn flew towards Yasilithi as he prepared to fly off to visit the Goblin Village for a routine patrol, as well as to collect more slaves and bounty from the village to add to the city coffers.

"Sunbearer, I need you to do us a favor."

Yasilithi turned towards Svalinn and bowed.

"What do you need, Lady Svalinn?"

"I need you to deliver this message to Lady Pakuri. My uncles wrote it, so it must be important."

She handed a piece of leather etched with draconic symbols. A quick glance let Yasilithi know that it was an enchanted coded message, designed only for members of House Loern to be able to read. He could only make out a few nonsensical words. She also handed him a missive stating his official business and his authority to operate. This allows him to operate under the name of Loern when visiting other Loern-controlled cities. Yasilithi placed these documents within a pouch that wrapped around his body, usually intended for collecting Dragon Egg tribute from slave territories.

"Understood, my Lady."

"One more thing, Yasilithi. What you did today... You have saved us. Allow me to thank you on behalf of my family."

Yasilithi's wings fluttered, tail nervously swishing.

"I am only doing what I am required to do, but I humbly accept your thanks, my Lady."

"Fly north until you reach our northern borders. The city there should be able to provide enough slaves for a teleportation spell. I shall send another Knight to the Goblins to run your errands until you come back."

"My Lady, if the matter is urgent, I can spend my own soul-"

"That won't be necessary. My grandmother's location is currently unknown. There are three routes she could take from the Northern City to the Dragon Emperor's abode. The Lord of the city would be able to tell you where she went. That is why I'm not providing slaves for you to teleport right now."

"Understood, my Lady."

Yasilithi bowed again, and flew off.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Within the Northern City was a sprawling trading area. The city itself was embedded into a mountain, but extends far outside of the cave entrance. There, the slaves have built an opulent marketplace for caravans to conduct their trade. The Northern City was situated in an ideal location for trade, because the surrounding area held high mountains that penetrated past the clouds, was a direct route to and from the Dragon Emperor's territory, and was a source of valuable raw materials. The Lord of the Northern City controls all the mining operations within the surrounding mountains, so nothing can pass his domain into the Dragon Emperor's territory without his permission, and nothing from the Dragon Emperor can pass into Loern territory without his knowledge.

The area was rich with valuable ores and crafting materials. While the main Loern city had valuable commodities in form of food harvests and slave village-farms, the Northern City had precious ores and rare gemstones. A significant chunk of Teverin's wealth came from this city, which means he will fight tooth and talon to keep this city under his control. Due to the infrastructure already in place, and how deep within the borders of the Loern and Dragon Emperor from the west and the east, it would be extremely expensive for any other Houses to attempt a takeover of this city. Destroying the mines within the city would mean potential cave-ins and loss of rich veins. The Dragon Emperor himself has not tried to expand his personal territory into Loern for millennia, after Teverin attempted to take the throne for himself, and thus was considered not a threat. Therefore, the Northern City was considered by many to be one of the safest locations in the world. Caravans from various House territories came here seeking trade and riches, and their soldier escorts were usually fresh young dragons on their first escort mission, overseen by only a couple of veteran dragons. The trade routes established by ancient draconic merchants was not without danger, but provides a good learning experience for inexperienced soldiers, and many other Houses consider its completion a newbie soldier's rite of passage into becoming a real soldier. The routes towards the Northern marketplace was a training ground for Loern Knights in Training as well.

During the day, the marketplace would be bustling with traders and caravans selling and buying their wares. This included bargaining precious metals for other precious metals, enchanted items intended to make slaves more efficient in various tasks, livestock, and slaves of various races hailing from many exotic regions. Soldiers of their respective caravans keep a vigilant watch over their goods, as dragons were not above stealing or tasking their slaves to steal goods. Occasional fights broke out, but order was generally kept for one main reason. Odarath, the Lord of the city, was a Loern branch family member, and was a relatively powerful dragon himself. He did not hesitate to kill disorderly dragons, and over the centuries built a reputation of being a no-nonsense dragon, who killed instigators and perpetrators for disrupting the market. This earned the wrath of other Houses, who had learned that their newbie soldiers had died fighting a Loern, but they could not send an army into Loern territory without Teverin intercepting and causing further losses. Therefore, they mostly grumbled about it, sent diplomats to the main Loern city to complain, and then leave.

However busy the marketplace was during the day, once the sun was down, it was off-limits and closed to traders for the night. Then several slaves would be sent out to clean up the mess and tidy up the market for the next day's trading. Except for the occasional sweeping sounds, the market would be dead silent. Tonight, however, a lone dragon would walk the dead streets, apparently looking for something. It appeared to be small, had feminine features, and walked with an air of regality. It spotted a slave, who looked like a mutated, ugly version of an orc, and stride towards it. They spoke briefly for a moment. Then the dragon shouted, started casting a spell, but was pounced upon by several other slaves. Her spell was successfully casted, but given her small soul relative to more ancient dragons, the spell could not have been a powerful one. Her claws glowed with power, and she swiped at her attackers, but they seemed unfazed by her attacks, as if they melted back into the shadows to avoid her strikes. She considered using her fire breath, but couldn't risk damaging the marketplace. Suddenly, undead started sprouting from the ground, grabbing her and locking her in place. She struggled mightily, but the sheer volume of zombies and what appeared to be husks with very sharp canine fangs dampened her movement and crushed the breath from her lungs. Another figure appeared, and bit down on the dragon's neck. His fangs penetrated her tough dragonhide as if it was made of nothing but paper, and ripped open a hole, bone exposed and blood spewing freely onto the ground. Eleven slaves descended on the dying dragon, and hungrily lapped up her blood.

Before the night was over, the body was left, but no trace of the fight was left behind.

—

Yasilithi flew swiftly along a caravan path. While he could fly directly there, he had to call back the slave runners still carrying a message for aid. His sharp draconic eyes spotted several bodies along the path, picked clean by the unintelligent monsters who dwell on the road. If they had all died carrying the message for aid, that would've been best for Yasilithi, but that was impossible. The amount of slave runners numbered nearly a small army, both because Loern had the slaves to spare, and because Svalinn was desperate for aid at the time. Svalinn now tasked a couple of Knights to travel to various routes to recall the slaves back to the mountain city. Yasilithi was to recall this set of slaves and continue onward to the Northern City. He could tell when he was approaching the Northern Lord's territory when the terrain of the land changed from lush green forest lands to rocky canyons and flat plataus.

Before long, he found a small mass of bodies hustling down a path. Yasilithi roared his announcement, and landed in front of the slaves with a mighty thud.

"The city has been saved. By the command of Lady Svalinn, you are compelled to go home."

The slaves hesitated. One of them spoke up. It was an old hobgoblin.

"Forgive us, master Knight, but there are... There are werewolves. You may have seen some of our fallen comrades."

Yasilithi snorted and glared at the hobgoblin. He disliked when slaves didn't do exactly as they were told. Why was this his problem? He voiced that question the the slaves, who shuddered.

"Master Knight... If we don't return, perhaps Master Svalinn assumes you didn't do as you were told? There are cave trolls amongst us... They're very valuable, yes?"

Indeed, he could spot a couple of variants of troll species within the runner group, although the number could be counted on one hand. It appeared the werewolves targeted trolls for their regenerating meat supply.

Slave runners were bred and trained to be swift, long distance runners, not war combatants. Even if a race was known for their physical prowess in combat, they wouldn't be able to fend off feral werewolves. To the mighty dragons, mere werewolves posed no threat to their hordes. However, it was insulting that werewolves would dare attack the property of dragons and make off with the spoils. One could imagine that certain slaves were assets that were worth dozens of platinum Dragon Eggs over their lifetimes, and to kill and eat these assets was akin to stealing from a dragon's horde.

Armed with this rationale, totally not because the hobgoblin convinced him, Yasilithi snorted, turned towards where the slaves were pointing at, and growled.

"Stay here. I will annihilate these pests."

Feral werewolves were not intelligent. Not like the werewolf slaves the mountain city occasionally purchases as an exotic pet. They do survive off animalistic instinct, and thus would go into hiding if they sense a larger predator prowling around. This was in full display when Yasilithi lumbered into the forest, smashing down trees that got in his way.

This mockery of a dragon's senses further exasperated Yasilithi, and he roared in response.

"COME OUT OR I WILL BURN THIS WOODLANDS DOWN." Yasilithi knew they wouldn't understand what he was saying, but they would understand his meaning from the tone of his voice.

He heard yelps in the distance, followed by a rush of padded feet. Yasilithi let out a roar, and smashed through wood and rock towards the sound. He spotted a werewolf, coated in fur and muscle and a stench of troll blood, and let out a jet of red hot flames. The entire area in front of him exploded in fire, and the poor wolf shriveled up into a crisp. Yasilithi snapped up the corpse into his mouth, and crunched down on it, bone and all. The fire in front of him died down as quickly as it began.

His senses picked up quiet padding behind him as he chewed, and then several angry werewolves exploded from the side of the shrubbery that Yasilithi didn't destroy. They latched onto his wings and legs in an attempt to immobilize him. The largest of the werewolves had his jaw firmly clamped on part of a scale on Yasilithi's neck. They were clearly trying to kill him, but Yasilithi found it amusing that these werewolves believed they could kill dragons. He couldn't even feel neck clamper's fangs, let alone the ones trying to tear off his wings and legs.

He let them struggle for a bit. He even roared in pain for a while, and drooped his head down as if conceding defeat. The werewolves, surprised and eager about their supposed success in bringing down the apex predator of their world, increased their wriggling with renewed vigor, apparently oblivious to the fact that they couldn't draw blood. Yasilithi then heard additional rustling, and saw werewolf pups, in both humanoid and wolf forms, as well as mothers emerging from their hiding place. It appeared that the werewolves felt safe enough to be confident of victory. The pups looked at him in awe, and the mothers howled at him in open hostility and ridicule. Yasilithi felt nothing but glee at his acting skills, and mocked their stupidity in his heart.

Sneering, Yasilithi suddenly straightened back up, fluttered his wings to rid himself of the annoying pests on his back, and let out another jettison of flames. Yelps of pain and agony could be heard from the mothers and pups as they desperately tried to run away, but the flames obeyed the will of their master, and wouldn't extinguish even if the werewolves jumped into a river. The pups were the first to perish, followed closely by their mothers, who helplessly watched their young ones be cooked alive as their last dying vision. The band of werewolves that didn't get caught in the flames howled in pain, and lashed away at Yasilithi's feet and talons. Yasilithi laughed, like a child toying with the plight of doomed rats, and playfully swiped at the largest one, who exploded in a flurry of meat, fur, and blood. The others didn't let up their attack, as they appeared to be going berserk, unaware and uncaring for their own safety. Yasilithi, growing bored with his playthings, yawned and crushed the rest of the werewolves with the sheer bulk of his body. He then picked up the pups, whom by then were finished frying in his flames, and popped them in his mouth, bunches at a time, like popcorn. He then picked up the cooked corpses of the mothers and brought them to the slaves waiting for him at the opening in the forest.

"Use these provisions wisely for the run back. Don't test my patience or you'll end up in flames yourself."

The slaves shouted their eternal thanks and loyalty, and bolted back home. Yasilithi was slightly annoyed by this delay, but reasoned that the other Knights must've been having the same issues as himself. He also had a nice, free lunch, and so decided that it was all worth it.

—

When Yasilithi finally arrived at the Northern City's marketplace, he found it closed off, with various sized dragons guarding the entrance against a sizable crowd of merchants. While dragons could fly over it, their caravans couldn't sprout wings, and thus must be pushed by beasts tamed by slaves. Any dragon flying over the entrance would be tackled onto the ground by the guards surrounding the marketplace anyway, and there was no reason to enter if no one was displaying any valuable wares.

Yasilithi flew up to a guard, and asked what was going on. He pulled out his official missive, and handed it to the guard. The guard looked over it, returned it, and nodded at Yasilithi.

"Lord Odarath's daughter, Lady Rikima, died last night. Brutally murdered. It was a grisly scene. Funny thing was, no blood was found on the body or the crime scene, and no damage could be found on the surrounded area, so she must've died without a struggle."

Yasilithi pondered.

"But you said she was brutally murdered?"

"Oh yes, that's why it's strange. The neck was torn open and there were signs of bruising around the body. The slaves working last night said they didn't hear a thing."

Yasilithi stretched his wings, as if he was not interested. This wasn't his problem.

"As the missive stated, I require audience with Lord Odarath."

"No can do, Lord Knight. Lord Odarath's pretty distraught by the death of Lady Rikima."

"Hmm? What, did he want to take his own daughter as his mate?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort. You see, the only way to get Lordship of this City is for the heirs to kill the ruling parent. Odarath's pretty much killed every potential heir in fair, open combat, and he doesn't want to be seen as a coward now by killing his daughter before she's ready, in the middle of the night with no audience to witness."

"And how would you know his intentions?"

"I don't. He told us in a speech this morning. You just missed it. Personally, I don't think he did it. I would be shamed to no end if I had to resort to such underhanded techniques to retain power. Then I'd deserve to die a coward's death and lose it all."

Yasilithi nodded.

"So there's no way for me to speak with him."

"Nope."

"Even by the the threat of Master Teverin?"

The guard's snout visibly paled. There was no dragon on this world who didn't know his name.

"Perhaps you're an exception to the Lord's rule..."

"Indeed. I am."

The guard shouted towards his comrades to cover for his spot. They looked at him in confusion, but decided it wasn't worth prying.

"Follow me, Lord Knight."

They both spread their wings, and flew into the marketplace. Behind him, Yasilithi could hear protests from merchant dragons shouting why they were letting one of them into the market.

The guard led him to the crime scene. Indeed, there has been no sign of any struggle surrounding the body, yet it was horribly mangled, and there was a small, gaping hole on the neck that cut deep into her flesh. A large dragon surrounded by two smaller dragons loomed over the body, as if examining the body would allow them to discern the culprit immediately. The two dragons besides the larger dragon heard flapping sounds, turned around, and shouted for the two to get down from the sky.

"Halt! No trespassing on the Lord's orders! Wings down or we will breathe fire and fury!"

"Stay your breaths! I come with a representative of Master Teverin, Ruler of our domain!"

Yasilithi dipped his head in acknowledgement to the other dragons, and properly bowed to Odarath Loern. However, the latter dragon didn't acknowledge the gesture, and continued to stare at the body. Yasilithi could feel seething rage coming from the titan of a dragon, but could not understand why. Dragons do not share much of a familial bond, much less a father towards their offsprings. The mother only tolerates their children up to a certain point before kicking their children out of their nests. For the Mountain City, this phase coincides with the Test of Combat.

"Ah, dear great-grandfather Teverin... What a time to send a representative to my domain."

The dragon turned towards Yasilithi, sizing him up. Yasilithi could feel his own scales crackling, his wings fluttering, as he instinctively made himself seem bigger. He met the Loern's eyes with his own stare. After personally facing Teverin and the Twins in live combat as part of his Knighthood training, not many dragons scare Yasilithi anymore, as everything else seemed like a lesser threat. Not even the weaker kin of the main Loern family was any different. But Odarath was not like other kin. He had almost the same air of power as Svalinn, and the same eyes of wisdom as the Twins.

"I am quite angry. No, anger doesn't describe what I feel... I feel ridiculed. I feel wrath. I feel burning rage."

Odarath turned towards his daughter's body.

"She disgraced me. A Loern dragon! Died so easily! Couldn't even leave a couple of her killer's scales behind! And now Teverin's lackey show up in my city for him to be notified and be reminded of my grandfather's failure as a Loern dragon!"

Odarath suddenly reared himself back, sucking in air... And let out a great roar towards the sky. His guards shrank away, taken aback by the strength in his voice. They were shocked to see that Yasilithi was the only one amongst them who seemed genuinely unfazed.

"O great Sun! Hear my plight and aid this dragon! The rest of the world shall believe me a coward who couldn't fight his daughter in a fair match! Help me shine a light on the true culprit, so that we may put this issue to rest behind me!"

He then turned to the guards.

"I want you to round up the slaves who were here last night. I don't care if we questioned them before, we shall do it again. But before you do, wait until I'm finished with our dear guest."

Odarath looked at Yasilithi.

"Honorable Knight, I deduce that you wish to meet up with Lady Pakuri. There is no other reason as to why you're here. I will tell you which route she took, but you must do something for me first."

He pointed to the body.

"Clear my name."

Yasilithi gave him a confused look.

"Forgive me, Lord Odarath, but why is she my problem? You know your city best. And you don't even know if the dragons of your city even believe you did the deed. Your own soldiers don't think you did."

Odarath chuckled.

"Don't play dumb with me, boy. My city knows me, but they don't know you. You are not someone whom I can influence. They cannot dispute the word of a Knight from Strunmahsahsun. Everyone knows of your reputation."

He glanced at the body once more before meeting Yasilithi's eyes.

"You are the only one who can do this. Now, tell me your name."

"Yasilithi Ragrivin."

Odarath nodded.

"Guards, let the soldiers know to aid Yasilithi in everything he needs. Do not interfere with his investigation, under the penalty of death."

The three other dragons nodded, and bowed, before flying off towards the cave entrance.

"I will give you until the Sun is at the midpoint in the sky. You have until then before the slaves clean this mess up."

Odarath then muttered something under his breath before flying off.

Yasilithi suddenly felt very alone and overwhelmed. Normally, draconic society does not investigate the deaths of anyone, whether they are a minor dragon or a lord of a territory. This was because of the law of strength. Only a dragon can kill another dragon, and thus if a lord died, they did not deserve to rule if they could not kill a peer. There is an exception, however, when it comes to dishonorable kills, wherein the perpetrator used underhanded tactics like poisons and such to weaken his foe, or conscript the help of strong slaves and weaker dragons to pile on one enemy. These sorts of deaths are easy to solve because dragons usually do not think through their crimes; there is usually a witness slave or dragon who saw the deed done and squeal.

This crime, however, was done when no one was around to see it happen, and was coordinated enough for a Loern dragon to die. This could mean many things, and Yasilithi felt it would be extremely time consuming to test them all. While Yasilithi could teleport back to the Mountain City and have a Loern force the words from Odarath, he also felt curious as to who the perpetrator really was. He also wished to not rely on the strength of other dragons, as that made his pride in his own strength feel rather hurt. He knew that he couldn't beat Odarath... Probably, but he didn't want to take that chance.

Yasilithi decided to examine the body to search for any clues. He gave it a deep sniff. Indeed, no trace of blood, as if it was purposefully exsanguinated. He also detected a slight scent of desiccation, as if the body was surrounded by dead slaves. It was heavily masked with floral scents, but if an acute draconic nose could detect a quarter fool's gold Dragon Egg in a pile of a thousand gold Dragon Eggs, then this was considered a much simpler task.

Yasilithi paused. Come to think of it, the scent of rot surrounded this specific area of marketplace. It was as if this area served as a slave burial ground centuries ago. But it also contained an intense floral and herbal scent, as if trying to disguise the fact that there was rot underneath. Given how busy the marketplace usually is, and how most dragons are concerned with how much Dragon Egg they have left after a day's worth of perusing, no one would've detected this scent at all.

Taking note of this, Yasilithi turned his attention back to the body. He noticed that the claws were extended, which meant that Rikima was in combat. There was no flesh or scale bits on her talon as far as he could see, which meant her opponent had to have tough scale or nimble limbs and solid reflexes. This doesn't reveal anything to Yasilithi, as the body appeared to be a mere adult dragon, not an elder or ancient dragon with sufficient combat experience. There were probably slaves within the citadel of the Mountain City who could kill her in single combat.

Yasilithi then examined her most obvious wound. A closer look revealed that it appeared to be a bite mark, as if someone bit the chunk of flesh and scale, and ripped it all away. He could trace the jagged fang marks around the wound, and from experience, knew that the bite was very strange to be a dragon's bite. As a soldier, Yasilithi has bitten many dragons over his years, and the bites he made left a much bigger wound on his target. It was as if a miniature dragon had taken a bite from the neck. But no baby dragon could take on an adult and win. Yasilithi has never heard of any dragon, not even the Loern dragons, who could take on an adult dragon as a child. The shape of the bite also didn't match the snout of a small dragon either, but dragons varied in different shapes, sizes, and forms, so this could simply be a foreign dragon that Yasilithi hasn't seen before. Thus, Yasilithi concluded that the bite mark must have been made by a particularly small, ancient dragon.

Yasilithi continued to examine the body. He noticed a ring on one of her talons. It glowed brightly, without the luster of time dimming the engravings on the ring. It appeared that she had recently completed the Test of Combat, with a mark of "exceptionally strong", as expected of a Loern descendent. An amulet of unknown power adorned her neck, glowing with a mysterious Wild Magic enchantment. Given how it's owner died, it probably didn't contain a powerful enchantment, or it wasn't even a combat-oriented amulet at all. In any case, the killer did not want to steal Rikima's possessions.

All the possible clues point towards a dragon that stole all of Rikima's blood for purposes unknown, who was small and ancient. However, without scale samples and any knowledge of Wild Magic that could locate dragons, Yasilithi did not know what the dragon looked like, or even what colored scales it had.

Yasilithi looked up at the sky. The Sun wasn't at the midpoint of its flight, but Yasilithi felt that he was done with his investigation here. Now it's time for him to interview everyone he could think of to gather additional information, as well as a possible motive. He took her ring and her amulet, placed them in his pouch, and flew off.

As Yasilithi flew off towards the Northern City entrance, the flight of the Sun reminded him of another legend. The legend of Unslaad Lok-Bo, a massive dragon who took to the skies and never returned. That dragon was as old as time itself, even older than Teverin, and was said to have flown so high, he touched the Sun's body, and in doing so gave him tremendous power. The dragon used this power to fly with the Sun forever. Dragons gave him the title of "Heavenly Dragon Lord", and his name translates into "Perpetual Flight in the Sky". Whether or not he existed did not interest many dragons. But occasionally, if a dragon were to take flight for long periods of time, and were to look up, they might spot a tiny speck in the distance.

—

"I assumed you came back here to give me a verdict. And yet, I see no beaten dragon pitifully trailing you. Where is he?"

Odarath laid on his lofty throne. It was intricately carved with imagery of dragons and the Sun. Blue diamond jewels sprinkled across the throne, painting a sky, and a giant gold sun, enchanted with Wild Magic to glow like the sun, perched above Odarath's head. It made him look like he had a halo. His concubines lay around him, lazily snacking on dried, salted, and smoked exotic meats. The artificial spices made it nearly impossible for Yasilithi to detect the type of meat they ate, and he was in no mood to guess. Indeed, this was a throne room fit for a king, but Yasilithi didn't like how there was no homage to his commanders nor Teverin. This terrifying display of wealth was a testament to how wealthy the city was, with millions of rare metal and gemstone Dragon Eggs leaving the mines of the surrounding mountains every year. This was on top of the taxes charged on every purchase made within the marketplace.

"Forgive me, Lord Odarath, but I require additional information. The culprit of the murder eludes me due to the lack of evidence, as you can observe."

Odarath pondered. He picked up a piece of meat, dipped it in a blood bowl, and started munching on it. The blood had a strange scent, which Yasilithi could only assume was added flavorings.

"You wish to know what possible motives were behind my daughter's death. Aside from my motive, I know not of her own personal affairs."

"Do you know of anyone who hated her? A peer who she bullied in the past? A potential mate she humiliated?"

Odarath glanced at one of his concubines.

"I do not know. I don't really care about what she did, only that she performs to my satisfaction when the time came for her Test of Combat. And she did. But you know that already, if you had half a brain."

Yasilithi produced the ring, and handed it over to Odarath. But Odarath didn't reach for it. The concubine that he glanced at stood up, walked over to Yasilithi, and took the ring. He assumed she was the mother of Rikima.

"She was my best child. Dragons shouldn't have much bonds with their children... but I loved her more than I should have."

A tear rolled down her eyes, but she hastily wiped it away. Odarath shot her a glare.

"Call it a true mother's love."

"Daali was Rikima's mother. Ask your questions with her, but not in this room. Every time I think of my daughter, it makes me angry."

As the two dragons walked out of the throne room, Yasilithi pulled out the amulet from his pouch.

"What is this then?"

"My gift to her for passing her father's test so well. It provides a weak stamina recovery, as well as slightly better regeneration."

"You're an enchanter?"

"Yes, but only a bit better than anything you can make. I gave that profession up after Odarath fancied me as another mate. I had to produce strong children, so I had to be strong as well. Otherwise, he would've killed me."

She flapped her wings.

"You got to see how well we eat though. The risk was worth it in the end. My child survived when the others couldn't."

Yasilithi thought about the other concubines.

"They're not dead."

"They have three successful hatches before either leaving the nest or risk being killed."

"Since you said 'Rikima was your best child', you're on your second or third egg."

"Third. I'm in a unique situation right now, wherein the Lord couldn't decide if he should cast me out despite technically having a successful child, or if he should give me one more chance. But that's not your problem. You asked the Lord if our daughter had any enemies."

Yasilithi nodded.

"She had rivals. Her half-siblings. But.." Her voice trailed off.

"They're dead." Yasilithi knew very well how brutal training can be, even at birth.

Contrary to popular belief, dragons can lay dozens of eggs every mating season. Dragon eggs were very, very frail, however, and thus the mother dragon has to tend to the eggs vigilantly while the father hunted (or in modern dragon society, a mixture of hunting and buying food) for himself and the mother. Even with vigilant watch, the eggs often fail to hatch. Normally, two or three eggs out of every dozen would hatch. A newborn dragon would then use all of its might to crack the tough shell. A popular, but not necessarily true, belief amongst dragons was that a dragon's strength potential could be gleaned from how easily a hatchling could crack the shell of their egg.

When the egg finally opens, the hatchling falls into a deathly still state, utterly exhausted from exerting itself to break free. In this near-death state, the mother and father breathes Wild Magic into the hatchling's body, giving it the necessary connection to the World to manipulate its powers. The World decides if it would reject the dragon, upon which the hatchling would die of exhaustion, or if it would accept the dragon, upon which the dragon would promptly breathe its elemental breath for the first time. Even at birth, it's the survival of the fittest for dragons. Dragons without the necessary potential to grow would die, rejected by the World from the start. One in three surviving hatchlings would die by the rejection of the World. This was one of the main reasons why dragons do not flood the world with sheer numbers due to their egg count.

Experiments were done to see what happens to dragons who never received the Wild Breath. The survival rate increased to 100%, as the hatchlings naturally recovered from exhaustion, but they grow up to be stunted. They could never meet the physical strength of their peers, no matter how old they grew, as if their growth stopped after a certain point. They also couldn't use magic at all, but they could learn to breathe their respective element after a certain amount of time passed. Of those who took their Test of Combat, none survived. Those who never took the Test were treated no different than slaves, as dragons who were weak and can't use Wild Magic were not seen as dragons at all.

Even for those who survived the Wild Breath, life as a young dragon was not easy. Training from their mothers were brutal, and many more children died from the stress. The Test of Combat further diminished the amount of dragons who passed on to adulthood. Thus, over the lifetime of a dragon, if they successfully made it to parenthood, they'll see about two or three children make it to adulthood on their own, out of possibly hundreds of eggs.

Because of the nature of hatching eggs, Odarath now has to decide whether hatching eggs with Daali was worth the investment, for the possible outcome of producing another strong heir. While it may seem counter-intuitive for Odarath to want a heir that may some day kill him, dragons will not die of old age. Thus, dragons lust for an honorable death in battle once they feel that they've accomplished everything they wanted to do.

If Rikima's rivals were all dead, then it couldn't have been a disgruntled battle between two adult dragons. The marketplace would've shown signs of battle. Unless...

Yasilithi suddenly recalled that there were slaves present during the night, who said that they didn't hear anything that night. However, slaves are tight-lipped if they're forced by another dragon to lie. They may not have heard anything, but perhaps they've seen something. Or perhaps those slaves even had a connection or grudge against Rikima...

Daali noticed Yasilithi fall into deep thought.

"Did you figure out something?"

"Who were the slaves that were present last night?"

Daali shook her head.

"I don't know. The slave master should know though. Although I heard from Odarath that the slaves didn't hear any commotion last night?"

"Hmm. Tell me where the slave master is."

"Fly down three levels below the Throne Room. There should be pathways leading up to it that our slaves use to receive their work for the day."

"Is the slave master a dragon or another slave?"

"Both. It's one of those Unbreathed."

Yasilithi nodded. Unbreathed was the name given to dragons who never received the Wild Breath. They never moved beyond slave status. However, due to the fact that they're unable to die from old age like the other slaves, they're usually given administrative roles. Unbreathed were also an extremely rare case. It usually occurs when the Lord of a city faces a boom in dragon population, and doesn't know what to do with the extra dragon births. New births would then be bought by the Lord for a hefty sum of gold Dragon Eggs, essentially selling the children to be slaves. The Mountain City doesn't have one, because the sight of weak dragons made Teverin sick.

—

Saalodiv may be a slave, but he was the master of all the other slaves. He took pride in being in control, even if he wasn't considered a full-fledged dragon by his peers. Yes, he still considered himself a dragon, and thus other dragons were his peers. Such was the arrogance that Saalodiv possessed. Despite his weak stature, he was an incredibly ancient dragon. He was the slave master when Odarath's father ruled this domain over 600 years ago, making him older than even the most veteran soldiers in the city. His breath was as strong as his peers, and he was still had superior strength compared to the mightiest slave soldiers. Such was the strength of dragons, that their race was strong enough to lord over the other races even without the power of the Wild Breath. Due to his old age, Saalodiv was also wiser than most dragons would care to admit. Whether they like it or not, Saalodiv kept the slave schedules running like a well-oiled machine. He meticulously kept records and always knew who was where at all times. This meant he also knew the schedules of dragons who wanted to take slaves for errands for the day.

Given the circumstances behind last night's murder, he anticipated the arrival of Odarath and his soldiers into his domain. He gave them the slaves, demanded them back under the threat of not having anything done for the day, and carried on schedule. He didn't, however, anticipate for Odarath to question his slaves again, nor did he anticipate an outsider snooping around asking questions about the slaves who are being interrogated right now. This annoyed him to no end, as he sees his well-oiled slave empire struggling with the constant interruptions to his duties. This was only his imagination, as his slaves could function autonomously without his input, but any slight delay in services rendered hurt his pride as a competent slave master. He was now down 10 slaves, all of whom were his most veteran, hardworking slaves. He could depend on them the most if he needed emergency manpower, whether it was for mining or general services. In other words, those 10 specific slaves were worth an equivalent of twice their own race's worth in manpower. He was also missing a slave answering directly to Odarath himself, Mekra, who was also part of the nighttime cleaning crew last night. He was skeptical about why she was needed in the cleaning service, but Lady Rikima herself ordered her to be on the team, so he didn't dare to question it.

Saalodiv hated being interrupted while working, but Yasilithi was one of the fabled House Loern Knights. He knew, from the snippets of what he's heard, that these dragons were capable of killing two of the Lord's soldiers without much trouble, and could probably end his life with a single swipe of their claw. If they were that strong, perhaps they're all even a match for Lord Odarath himself. And Saalodiv learnt to swallow his pride many, many centuries ago.

"Master Knight, once Lord Odarath's men are done, I shall be... pleased... to let you have them. Or perhaps you would like to see them right now?"

He choked out the word "pleased" like it was a piece of rotten flesh.

Saalodiv observed Yasilithi perking up at the mention of meeting with the slaves. Perhaps he could have the Knight interrupt the soldiers' interrogation, as payback for interrupting his own work. And for dumping part of his paperwork on the floor.

"They were with the slaves for quite a while now. They should be done now."

Saalodiv shuffled his papers around. That was a partial lie. The other soldiers left only recently, and should've only started now. However, they were here earlier, and were with the slaves for quite a while. The slaves returned slightly shaken, but otherwise in tip top form.

Yasilithi responded with an air of haughty superiority. "Yes, bring me to them at once. I shall conduct the questioning under the authority of Lord Odarath."

Saalodiv bowed, and led Yasilithi to where he knew the soldiers would keep his slaves. It was near a sheer fall cliff within the mountain. Slaves who performed terribly would be sent there either to shake them up or die. Dragons would push the slaves off the cliff, and decide whether to save the slaves or let them go. It usually depended on the mood. For slave races that could fly, dragons would just kill them and dump their bodies.

While walking there, Saalodiv sensed that Yasilithi's immediate protection of his wellbeing would be beneficial, as the dragon soldiers there would punish him around for interrupting their fun.

"Master Knight, I presume you are here about the death of Rikima? As the Slave Master, I may have valuable information that you require, that the slaves may not tell you. All you need to do is ask."

Yasilithi did not hesitate to take the bait.

"Very well. I shall amuse this offer. Slave Master, do any of these slaves hold a grudge for Lady Rikima?"

"No, Master Knight, that I am certain. They all do not mix with the Lord's daughter... Except for one."

"Explain."

"Mekra, a mutated Orc, was purchased by our Lord and given to Rikima. Since Rikima's death, Odarath has the rights to be her master. I am afraid I am not very familiar with the slaves directly answerable to our Lord's family. As for the other slaves, they're usually for the general population, or for mining work."

Saalodiv bowed.

"Hmm... Before we move on, explain what you meant by 'mutated'?"

"Yes. Originally, when the Lord bought Mekra, she had a different look than she does now. After a while, her body warped a bit. We all assumed that it's just something that can happen to Orcs."

"Interesting. Has it happened before?"

"Yes, Master Knight. One of the slaves we shall see was also a mutant Orc."

"I see. Next question. Since you are the slave to see when one wants slaves to be allocated for the day, you must know the schedules for everyone. Who mirrored that of Rikima's? Or better yet, who was active last night?"

"It appears that the fabled House Loern Knights are more intelligent than the average grunt Odarath employs. Indeed, I have an inkling of what most dragons do in this city. However, I do not know for certain what it is that they do, especially for those who request general service for the day. The best I can tell you is that the only dragon who is active at night was the Night Bearer, who stays vigilant for enemies and sounds the alarm when trouble is spotted. No one knows Rikima's schedule. Not even I, so I cannot say if anyone is following her or not."

"I am familiar with what the Night Bearer does. I am the Sun Bearer of my city. In that case, I shall head for the Night Bearer next after this."

"Master Knight, then you should know that the Night Bearer is resting right now. To interrupt that one's sleep would spell jeopardy for this city!"

"Hmm.. You're right. But Lord Odarath, I have observed, is not a patient dragon. The Night Bearer shall have to answer my questions before truly resting. Or I shall beat the answers out of him."

"Master Knight! The Night Bearer is a powerful dragon! Surely you know one must be so to withstand a surprise attack to still sound the alarm! And-"

Yasilithi chuckled, amused by the Unbreathed's assessment of strength.

"Do you doubt the power of a Loern Knight? I'd rather face this Bearer's wrath than Odarath's. And remember. I, too, am a Bearer. He shall face claw and fury if he resists."

Saalodiv replied in a small tone.

"She will prove to be a match for your fury."

Yasilithi ignored the last bit, and continued on.

"I have one last question. Was there a slave burial ground within the marketplace millennia ago?"

"No, Master Knight, I-"

The two dragons spotted several shapes ahead. They could see the silhouette of two average-sized dragons, and many significantly smaller shapes. They have arrived just in time to see one of the slaves pushed off the cliff, screaming for its life, before a dragon dove down, snatched it, and tossed it back up.

Saalodiv quickly answered, "No, there was no slave burial ground, as far as I know."

They both flew towards the two dragons, and Yasilithi signaled to Saalodiv to let him do the talking.

"Soldiers of Lord Odarath, I shall conduct this interrogation from now on."

The other two dragons paused at what they were doing, and sized up Yasilithi. The slaves silenced themselves, staring at the dragon who ended their misery. Saalodiv silently seethed at the potential decrease in productivity from the slaves for the day.

"Under who's authority?"

"Lord Odarath's. Or, if you don't care about that, mine."

Yasilithi flared up his wings. His mouth glowed with power. His last word emphasized his threat, and his stature demonstrated his intent to attack. He was confident he could beat both of them.

The soldiers didn't dare to see if this was a bluff. They could sense the power Yasilithi holds. This dragon was larger than both of them, and had a body that can be honed only from countless battles.

They both stepped aside.

"Of course... emissary of Lord Odarath."

"I am a Knight of House Loern, Yasilithi Ragrivin. Do well to remember that."

Recognizing one of the highest seats of power in their territory, the two dragons were glad they didn't choose to pick a fight with the stranger. They then spotted Saalodiv cowering behind Yasilithi.

"Filthy Unbreathed... Ruined our fun."

"Yeah. Let's see how much fun we'll have with you later on. Haha-"

Yasilithi interrupted them.

"This slave is under my protection for the duration of my stay. If I see that he is harmed, I will flay both of your scales off, collect your horde of Dragon Eggs, kill your mates, and send you off to Strunmahsahsun to serve as Master Teverin's training dummies. Under the threat of utter annihilation, I doubt Odarath would refuse."

Yasilithi's mouth broke into a savage, toothy grin. Both dragons' snouts turned pale.

"D-duly noted, Master Knight!"

"Indeed! Off we go!"

Both dragons promptly spread their wings, and flew off. Saalodiv internally breathed an intense sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Master Knight."

"Of course. You are valuable for my investigation. Now, can these slaves speak Dragon tongue?"

"They are fluent, yes."

"Good. Stay here. Let me know if they speak lies after I am done."

Saalodiv bowed.

"Of course."

Yasilithi turned to the slaves. Indeed, he counted eleven slaves total. They all looked incredibly warped, except for an elderly-looking dark elf. Yasilithi almost couldn't recognize their race.

The dark elf frailly stepped forward. What looked like a female Orc helped him walk. In a hoarse, dry voice, he spoke up.

"I speak for all of us. You have questions. I shall answer the best I can. I warn you.. in my old age, I have difficulty hearing."

Yasilithi glowered at the slave. Something smelled off about them, but he couldn't place it due to the intense scent of raw ores on them.

"Who and what are you?"

"My name is Illuthin Durvil. I am a dark elf."

"A dark elf... At your age? In a city like this? You... You don't smell like one."

"What?"

Illuthin looked flustered for a moment.

"Must be... the mining. Yes... we mine all day."

Yasilithi shot a glance at Saalodiv, who nodded.

"Hmmm... You say you didn't hear anything during last night. What did you see?"

Illuthin paused for a moment, as if pondering. The other slaves shifted their bodies around, but Yasilithi ignored them.

"We did see something," the old elf replied in a soft tone.

Intrigued, Yasilithi leaned closer.

"We saw a strange shadow that silently tore into Master Rikima's body. We feared for our lives and hid until it was gone."

Surprised, Yasilithi abruptly jolted back. He did not know of any Wild Magic capable of doing such a thing. Still, it wasn't implausible for shadow magic to exist. There are great Houses who specialize in Wild Magic, and, given enough souls, could create great artifacts of power. The Dragon Emperor is one such individual. Who knows what Wild Magic they could concoct? Still, Yasilithi could not let the slaves know.

"Impossible. There is no Wild Magic that can manipulate the shadows. Even if there were... She should've had protection from Wild Magic."

The old elf shrugged.

"I know what I saw, Master. And I refuse to say more."

"What? No, you will tell me everything. This dragon who did this will not harm you anymore. Keep in mind that I have the backing of the mightiest dragons in these lands. No one refuses Lord Teverin's edicts."

The dark elf paused for a bit.

"I believe Master is misunderstanding. I cannot say more because I have no more to say. The shadow was... erm... numerous. Silent. Evil. It was dark already, and my eyes are poor. I would've thought it was my old age if it wasn't for the scent of dragon blood."

"Hmmm..."

Yasilithi turned to Saalodiv.

"I'm finished with these slaves. You are free to do whatever you want with them."

"Understood, Master Knight."

Saalodiv bowed, earnestly and respectfully, towards Yasilithi.

—

The Night Bearer's chambers is located deep within the mountains, away from the noise and clamor of slaves mining, dragons roaring, and market bustling. Reina=Rekwo was a dragon who loved the darkness of her cave. She found comfort in the silence of the walls. She felt that there was no greater pleasure than to curl up in her den of ultimate privacy, and sleep or read. Her inner sanctum, built to be very spacious but intimate, and by her own request, with silver and mithril decorations rather than the preferred gold and gemstone designs that most dragons crave, was filled with scrolls by accomplished dragon scholars. If one took a look at her, a dragon of pale white scales and slender body, no one would've thought that underneath her bookwormish attitude laid the city's fiercest warrior.

There was a great debate amongst the soldiers of the city between who was the stronger dragon: the Lord of the city, the Sun Bearer, or the Night Bearer. Reina had no interest in finding out who was stronger. She was strong, as her comrades in battle would proudly attest. Her enemies frequently underestimate her small body, but quickly realize their blunder when her body nimbly dodge their attacks, and counter attack with hide-rending claws. Her breath and Wild Magic specializes in bogging down her opponent with deep frost, with the temperature of everything within her sphere of influence plunging down into subzero temperatures. This shocking change usually leaves her opponents temporarily stunned but unharmed, which provides ample opportunity for Reina to sound the alarm in case of invasion - or if Teverin and his consorts were arriving.

Despite being a powerful dragon, Reina hated fighting. She loved to read about old historical epics from Dragon Sages, and would ask her father, who shared the same passion, to buy her scrolls if he saw any merchants selling such wares, as the marketplace closes by the time her vigil starts. Her favorite was the mythology behind the God-Dragons Sun and Moon. She loved hearing stories about Teverin and his children, and their exploits of territory domination around the world. Within the privacy of her own cave, she loved to cuddle with a scroll, and relive ancient battles.

Today, she was giddy about a new purchase her father had made. A rising upstart in the West, a bright, multi-color scaled dragon had made ripples within the dragon scholar community. He had pointed out that the Sun was no dragon, but merely a giant ball of gas billions of flight-days away from this planet. She would read his thesis disproving the myth of Sun and Moon as mere stories. She sensed that this was history in the making. She had centuries of research that he had made and she couldn't wait to spend the next few decades reading his works.

As she started poring through the vast stretch of tomes and scrolls, her sharp draconic senses picked up a commotion outside her cave entrance. Odarath had stationed guards outside her entrance to ensure that she does not get disturbed. They're to turn away any and all intruders, as Odarath valued Reina as a vital part of his defenses. Reina received a lot of suitor invitations from many dragons, weak and strong, however, she wasn't interested in having mates. To her, her scrolls were her beloveds. Reina tried to ignore the commotion at first, but it steadily grew louder. She was about to fly out when the commotion stopped. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned back towards her scroll.

"Annoying admirers..."

Suddenly a loud explosion could be heard, and the sound of battling dragons echoed throughout her cave. This startled Reina, as she couldn't believe there was someone foolish enough to contend with two of Odarath's guards.

Exasperated and incredibly annoyed, she spread her wings and flew outside, with the intention of freezing everything in sight. What greeted her was the most intense heat she had ever felt in all her centuries of battle. And then she beheld the sight of a giant dragon beating two other slightly smaller dragons to a pulp.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE, WORMS. NO ONE MAY LOOK DOWN UPON A KNIGHT."

The two other dragons sputtered an apology to Reina, before fainting from the intense heat.

"My l-lady..."

"Forgive us..."

The strange red dragon then gave Reina a look of shock. She in turn glared at him, and sent forth a flash of frost, intending to silence his flames. To her surprise, his flames died down but didn't go out. She had never seen flames she couldn't put out. Yasilithi also stood there, with a stupid look on his face, as he's never witnessed his flames snuffed out so easily by anyone but the Loern dragons, who possessed a more powerful variant of elemental flames. Today was a day of firsts for both dragons, nearly equal in age and strength.

Reina then registered what the red dragon said. She was very well versed in the accomplishments of the fabled Loern Knights, second in strength only to the ruling family. She had witnessed them once: when Lady Pakuri visited several nights ago, and could tell the stories were no mere embellishment. Here was living proof of their might.

"A Knight? Don't tell me... The Loerns sent a Knight for me?"

Her heartbeat quickened. She would join the Loern Knights without a second thought, just to live out their glory firsthand.

Yasilithi broke out of his stupor, and shook his head.

"Not exactly, Night Bearer."

"Oh.."

He straightened out his back, fluttered his wings, and stepped over the unconscious bodies of Reina's guards.

"My apologies for interrupting your rest, but I have an incredibly important matter to discuss with you."

"If it's not to join the Loern Knights, then what could it be...?"

Yasilithi gave her that dumb look again. She frankly thought he looked incredibly adorable, and not at all like a mighty Knight.

"Eh? Join the Knights? No, no, Jozi and Joti only recruit from within Strunmahsahsun... Although you do have a lot of potential."

Yasilithi stared at Reina, and nodded.

"But that's not the point. Lady Rikima is dead."

"So? What does that have to do to with me?"

"She was killed last night, when you were still active. I need to know what you saw. What you heard."

Reina shook her head.

"Who was Rikima again...? Ah, right, the pipsqueak of the Lord's. She was a brat. I couldn't care less if she died."

"Well you better start caring now. I must find the killer."

"Since when does a Loern Knight care about the death of a dragon?"

"Because your Lord is withholding information I need unless I exonerate him, and I'm also curious as to who would kill this dragon, if it wasn't the father."

Sighing, Reina paused to think about last night. On her high perch, she didn't see anything special, and she was too far away to really hear any covert operations.

"All I remember was how odd it was for a dragon to lurk into the marketplace last night. But it wasn't my job to care, that was for the normal guards to handle. I didn't hear anything or see anything inside the marketplace, so the incident must've happened outside my field of view."

"Hmmm..."

Yasilithi pondered about what he had heard. Before he came here, he had asked several guards who were patrolling last night if the Night Bearer had remained stationed at her post the entire night, and they all had said yes.

"So this dragon either knew of your existence or was lucky enough to have killed Rikima in a blind spot... Why does this dragon have to make my life difficult?!"

Reina could feel the heat rise again.

"Well, last night, I did see a shadow puppeteering dead bodies of slaves. I didn't think much of it. It's the duty of the guards to kick dragons out of the marketplace, not mine."

"Eh? Dead bodies, you say? I smelled them this morning. I thought the marketplace was built over a large slave burial site."

Reina shook her head.

"No, but I have overheard from the guards that some slaves have been complaining about missing family members. It's been a problem recently.. I'd say it's persisted just this century."

She shrugged her wings.

"Looks like you'll have to interview some slaves. Perhaps a polymorph spell could help you blend in. Slaves won't say anything they think a dragon won't care about. Their lips may be looser when they're talking to a comrade."

Yasilithi considered Reina's plan.

"I shall consider it. Thank you, Night Bearer."

"I am Reina=Rekwo, Night Bearer of Bromhofkiin. You will do well to remember that."

Yasilithi nodded.

"And I am Yasilithi Ragrivin, Knight of House Loern, and Sun Bearer of Strunmahsahsun."

"Sun Bearer..."

Reina leaned closer to Yasilithi, who nervously edged away. Red Dragons were supposed to have a slight disdain for White Dragons. She smiled a toothy grin, and laughed.

"At first, I was mad at you for disrupting my reading, but now, I feel like I'm witnessing history before my eyes. Farewell, Sun Bearer Yasilithi, and good luck."

Reina spread her wings and flew back into her cave. Yasilithi stared at the entrance where she disappeared behind for a while, as if entranced, before he took off.

One of the guards lying on the ground peeked opened his eyes, saw that the coast was clear, and gave a sigh of relief. He could sense that his buddy was still out cold, but he was glad they weren't killed in a massive battle between two of the strongest dragons he has personally ever met.

—

A strange lizard-like slave walked around with Saalodiv, with a brand of Daali featured prominently on its forehead. The brand was fake, as the lizardman was immune to Wild Magic attack spells casted on him, and Brand was considered an attack spell as it slightly damaged the slaves it imprinted itself on. Yasilithi painted the Brand onto his forehead with special dark ink meant for writing on scrolls, and enchanted the ink with Wild Magic that let it slightly shimmer. The brand was crudely drawn, but slaves wouldn't notice. Daali's brand wasn't widely known.

Saalodiv had agreed to accompany Yasilithi, as the latter had no idea how to navigate the Northern City and access the slave district. He had set several slaves to handle the administrative process in his domain, but still worried that they'll somehow muck the whole process up. He believed Yasilithi's plan to open up a couple of slaves to questioning was a stupid idea, as dragons were too arrogant and prideful to understand. Even Saalodiv himself, a fellow slave, cannot understand the suffering of a true slave, as he never had to work physically challenging jobs ever in his life. Such was the pride of dragons, who subconsciously still favorably view the Unbreathed over any other slave, and couldn't stand seeing a fellow dragon, even if not a real one, do actual slave work.

Therefore, Saalodiv decided to cut some corners and skip some unnecessary time wasting ventures, and ignore Yasilithi's request to go to the mines. He led Yasilithi to an old hag herbalist; a wood elf who was almost as old as Saalodiv himself, and was the wisest being he knew. A slave who possessed astute observation skills and invaluable knowledge of herblore, Aelinia the Hag was the best choice to answer some of Yasilithi's most pressing questions.

Within the first few steps into this territory, Yasilithi had already sensed something was wrong.

"I know mines. I've seen them before. This is not a mine."

"Lizardman, I would never lead you astray."

Saalodiv glared at several other slaves looking at their direction, who promptly looked away in fear. He then lowered his voice.

"Master Knight, this is already suspicious. The slave master never visits the slave district. Especially not with a slave. I told you this was a bad idea."

"Really now? So how do you assign work to the slaves? They just know from telepathy?"

"The masters select from a pool of slaves available in my domain. The ones here are either too old to work in the mines, are currently too injured, or are currently resting for the day."

They spotted a group of Antkin crawling along the walls into and out of holes, with their legs producing crittering sounds against the stone walls. Yasilithi shuddered, not in fear, but in disgust. He never liked those demihumans, and he liked them even less now that they're bigger from his current perspective. He would always sought to fry them first in the battlefield. As it turns out, most of the slaves don't like them either, and had erected a fence to separate the Antkin from the rest of the cavern.

"Get to the point. Where are we? This polymorph spell renders my strength useless until I dispel it. You had better not lead me to a trap, or this entire place burns."

Saalodiv gulped.

"Fear not, Master Knight, I am merely taking you to the one who could answer your questions best."

"Oh? Tell me of this slave."

"Her name is Aelinia, but it is best for her to introduce herself to you. I guarantee you, she poses absolutely no threat to you."

"And how do you know that this Aelinia can answer my inquiries?"

"She tends to the injured, which happens to every slave every day. Her alchemical remedies have no peer... But you do not care about that. She hears from every slave, and thus she knows more than even I about the city's affairs."

"Hmm... Very well. I shall allow this for now. But if I sense one inkling of danger..."

"O-of course, Master Knight. I will do you no harm."

Soon, the two dragons made their way to an isolated hut located at the very back of the cavern. Huge glowing mushrooms provided light to various different herbs, and heatstones were used to emulate the warmth of the sun. Yasilithi's nose tickled at the scent of many different rare and valuable herb specimens. While he was no loremaster of herbs, he could tell how much effort it took to get this garden going. The Mountain City did not have a place like this; the slaves usually either worked or were killed.

It appeared that the slaves had discovered an underground river flowing through this spot, and this hut was built to take advantage of the water provided by the river. A small irrigation canal ran through the crops to keep their roots properly watered. Different herbs were placed in different soils to maximize their yield and lower the chances of disease. Despite being deep within the mountain, this tiny area functioned essentially like a botanical garden, with various insect species crawling around the garden, doing their own part in keeping the greenery alive. To Yasilithi, this was merely a valuable target in case he didn't get want he wanted.

Saalodiv was too big to prod into the garden without ruining the crops, so he waited at the edge. Yasilithi trudged on by himself, feeling uneasy about not wearing his glorious draconic skin. He felt disgusted to morph into a lesser being, but felt it was necessary to achieve his goal.

As he approached the hut, he saw what appeared to be a worm with spiked needles protruding from its body crawling in front of him, churning soil and dirt as it passed by. It left behind a glowing trail of slime, which quickly disappeared into the soil. Yasilithi's dulled dragon senses could pick up the insects within the soil doing something with the slime. Yasilithi picked up his foot, and was about to stamp down on it, when he heard a creaking voice.

"I wouldn't step on that if I were you. The Kinzon Insectum is named thus for a reason."

Yasilithi looked at the hut entrance, and saw a hunched over figure leaning on the frame. He snickered.

"Sharp Insect? Hardly a creative name."

Yasilithi stepped over the crawling critter, and walked up to the figure.

"You must be Aelinia."

"Indeed I am. But who are you? I've never seen such a spry, young, and proud slave come here before."

She reached a shriveled hand towards Yasilithi's false face, but he shrank away from her touch, as if the mortality of an old slave could steal the agelessness of a dragon from him. She giggled, amused by this knees-jerk reaction.

"I guess you would be handsome for your race, no?"

Yasilithi's lizard face turned into an unhealthy shade of purple, both embarrassed by the compliment and angered by himself that he was afraid of a mere slave.

"I am here to ask you a couple of questions, since it has come to my attention that you know more about this city, and it's slaves, and meets the eye."

"Oh? And who told you that?"

"Saalodiv."

"Saalodiv... ah, our beloved master."

"Wrong. The dragons are your masters, he simply tells you were to go."

Aelinia paused.

"Are the dragons not your masters as well?"

Yasilithi was about to scoff and answer in the negative, but quickly remembered that he was supposed to be a slave. Sometimes, the inexhaustible pride of dragons serve as more hindrance than boon. This was why most dragons cannot spy or handle covert work. It was more honorable, glorious, and easier to meet in open combat anyway.

"I have but one master. And he is... far away right now."

Aelinia stared at Yasilithi with her cloudy, blank eyes, before nodding.

"If you are here to ask about alchemy, I can help you the best I can. But I know nothing else."

"Alchemy? No, I wish to ask you about the other slaves. I have heard of slaves who disappeared suddenly, with no explanation, over the past century."

"Ohohoho? A slave who is curious about this city's history? My child, don't concern yourself with this matter. It won't help you work, and our masters don't care."

Yasilithi let a low growl escape from him, but managed to stomach his frustration. An outburst would blow his cover and further delay his investigation.

"I am interested because I've heard stories of slaves going missing over their lifetimes. I do not wish to bring harm to my family if my master is unwilling to protect us."

Aelinia nodded again.

"A good a reason as any, I suppose... Yes, I've heard of dozens going missing over time as well. Entire swaths of slaves... poof. The masters don't care. That dreaded marketplace always has fresh blood to purchase. And the rate at which slaves go missing is significantly lower than the rate at which they're being replaced."

Aelinia paused, trying to recollect the centuries of observations she's had of the city. Yasilithi leaned closer.

"It was only recent... well, to us elves, it was recent that whispers of a looming shadow appeared over the marketplace at night. Then old slaves, those who were near their deathbeds, would suddenly vanish into the shadows when they go out to clean at night. Some tell me that they spot shadows dancing in the distance... Just out of reach of their Dark Vision. Some tell me of apparitions they've witnessed, shadows where even the sun's light should've illuminated. And then... And then..."

Aelinia trained off, her cloudy blue eyes darting from shadow to shadow in her hut. She shivered, as if she felt a presence watching her, leering at her from the corner. Yasilithi let out a slight cough, which seemed to snap Aelinia from her stupor.

She whispered in a raspy tone.

"A dragon! Made of shadow. Born from the Moon herself. I've seen the blasphemous magic this dragons has done. I've seen..."

Aelinia started to gasp, hyperventilating from a traumatic memory. Her fingers danced around a shelf for a vial of medicine. When she found it, she did not hesitate to pop the bottle open, and swigged the contents down until no drops were left. A foul, rotten stench wafted from the bottle, and her mouth. Aelinia then started to swoon, as if whatever she drunk stole her strength.

"Yes... The shadows! They control them! They control-"

Suddenly, from the corner of the hut, a shadow tendril shot out and penetrated clean through the old elf's chest, who promptly slumped over. Yasilithi let out a cry, but couldn't do anything to stop the shadows while he was polymorphed. More tendrils appeared, and shot out at Yasilithi, but they dissolved into nothing the moment they made contact with his skin. This continued for a while, until the onslaught stopped as suddenly as it started. Yasilithi then saw black smoke wafting from the elf's mouth. He rushed towards her, and picked her body up, expecting it to be cold. To his complete surprise, her eyes shot back open.

"A potion... which delays my death. Slows my metabolism to a halt... Once I sleep, I slumber forever."

"What was that? Was that the dragon? Was that the Moon herself?"

"My child... Master Dragon... It was no Moon. I do not know what it was, only that it is a master we have never seen before..."

"I... You knew... How..."

"Dragons... Are too proud to have a master."

Aelinia gasped for air, wheezing and coughing.

"The shadows control... Several slaves. One strong, posing as weak. The rest... Severely mutilated by this foul magic."

She clasped onto Yasilithi's hands.

"Please, master dragon. Find this shadow monster. Kill it. Do it not for us worthless slaves. Do it... Because of its horde."

Aelinia took one last breath before succumbing to eternal sleep.

Yasilithi dropped the body to the ground. His greed had been tickled by this slave. Now he had a good reason to get to the bottom of this whole mess, because he stood to profit significantly from it.

Sitting down next to the corpse, he internalized what he had heard. From what he could gather, someone had been collecting bodies for a good part of a century. They utilize Wild Magic he had never seen or heard of before, but given how House Loern did not specialize in Wild Magic, Yasilithi wasn't surprised by what the dragons of this world were capable of. This Wild Magic was capable of remote control of dead bodies, and perhaps could also convert living slaves as well. If Reina's word could be trusted, this dragon could control dozens of bodies at a time. Dead bodies posed no threat to dragons of Yasilithi's caliber. Wild Magic less so. This implies that the dragon operates in the shadow for good reason, which is to avoid open conflict. But there were still questions that remained unanswered. Why would it kill the Lord's daughter? What was the purpose of the dead bodies, if they're useless in draconic combat? And most importantly... Where is this dragon? Thus far, Yasilithi could not gauge the distance from which the dragon could operate from. This was because he had assumed that the dragon was within the city the entire time. But remote control Wild Magic was unpredictable when it comes to the range at which it was effective.

During one of Teverin's conquests, Yasilithi has witnessed armored golems controlled remotely by their enemy House. While the golems were easy to destroy from the air, it prevented their slave armies from marching into the enemy territory, while the enemy fielded fresh slaves to join the battlefield. The Twins tried to replicate the magic to a lesser degree of success, and decided that it was a venture not worth pursuing. However, they realized that to finely control so many golems would require massive concentration and focus by the controlling dragon. Therefore, the war was won if Teverin's armies could find the enemy strongholds where the controlling dragons reside in, and bombard the outside with enough noise to break their concentration. The enemy House knew this, and hid deep underground, behind a maze of stone and dirt, to both block the noise and to hide their presence. Teverin's patience eventually grew thin with the search, and gave up his conquest into the lands. Before he left, though, he ordered his troops to seal as many cave entrances, holes, and mountain cracks as possible. Within a few decades, Teverin made a second attempt to take over the lands. This time, resistance was scattered and disorganized. The enemy House could not find the way out of their holes, and thus couldn't communicate with each other or even hunt for their food. They had to resort to eating slaves, and when that food supply ran out, they fell into deep slumber. Teverin is still finding pockets of dragons in slumber to this day within that territory.

Yasilithi didn't have the time to seal every last hole in this territory. He also didn't have the time to wait out a couple of decades to see if the shadow dragon had died or went to sleep. His only option now was to notify Odarath of his findings, and hope the Lord of the City would find this enough to tell him the route Lady Pakuri took to the Dragon Emperor. Before that, however, Yasilithi decided to travel back to the mountain city to inform the Twins and Teverin about this shadow dragon's horde. There was no guarantee that it had a large collection of Dragon Eggs, but given how it was able to pilfer slaves and sneak dead puppets into the marketplace without anyone noticing, there was a good chance it was stealing bits and pieces of loot as well.

—

It was a couple of days since Odarath ordered that Knight to go and find the perpetrator. His patience was growing thin. He could almost hear the chatters of the lower class dragons talking about the murder of his daughter, and how it could be his fault.

A slave brought a piece of fresh meat to his throne. He lazily picked it up and crunched on it.

"That worthless Knight... I should've known that he was good for nothing."

A low growl came from deep inside his body. The slave serving him shivered, and scurried away to serve his other concubines.

"I should've looked for the killer on my own. I probably could've found him by now."

He took a sip from a blood soup bowl. The taste of freshly boiled baby ursine blood always calmed him down. He only permitted himself a very small amount per day, given how little his city could produce, even with his vast wealth.

"Perhaps he simply took the shortest route to the Dragon Emperor's domain and waited for Lady Pakuri there."

Odarath then shook his head. The Dragon Emperor's soldiers would not accept early retainers of an arriving Dragon Lord, for security purposes. He stood on all fours, stretching, and prepared to fly out to look for the Knight, when the door to his throne opened. His slave master, carrying something in between his claws, strode towards him and bowed.

"Master Lord Odarath. Master Knight Yasilithi wishes to enter and speak with you."

Odarath paused what he was doing, and stared at the door.

"Let him in."

"Of course, master."

Saalodiv rushed to open the door, and Yasilithi flew in, and bowed.

"I trust you have news for me. I see no body behind you, so this better be good."

"As it were, I have reached the limit of my assistance that I may render for you."

Odarath reached down to scratch a thick, calloused silver sphere that was situated next to his throne. The sensation of ripping metal soothed him. The well-worn state of the sphere indicated that Odarath was a dragon whose patience was as short as a baby dragon's talon.

"...Explain. Now."

While the slave master behind Yasilithi flinched, the Knight himself remained calm, almost oblivious to his attempt at intimidation. The unfazed look of this Knight... Actually, of every Loern Knight Odarath has ever saw, annoyed him to no end. He was used to dragons cowering before his awesome aura. It was as if their fear was entirely cut off from their soul. In the back of his mind, he wondered how Teverin was able to train his dragons to this point and still retain their utmost loyalty.

"Lord Odarath, I have discovered the presence of what may be an unauthorized dragon using unknown Wild Magic trespassing in your domain. His or her main crime was the murder of your daughter, but done indirectly with the use of meat puppets."

Yasilithi gestured towards Saalodiv, who threw what he was carrying onto the floor. It was a desiccated slave corpse, but twitching in an unnatural manner. Saalodiv pressed his entire hand down onto the slave, pinning it under his giant bulk.

"I had believed that these corpses were directly controlled by this shadow dragon, but it now appeared that the dragon had placed a sort of automated response within the corpse to any external stimuli. The magic within the body can be remotely activated by the caster, which can switch it from this current state, to a dormant state."

The slave body was now gnawing on Saalodiv's talon, to no effect. Even an Ubreathed dragon was completely unfazed by the pitiful attacks made by this corpse.

"Interesting, Knight. But I don't see how this pitiful little thing can harm a fully-grown dragon."

"It didn't. As it turns out, the shadow dragon has also given remote access to these corpses to several of your slaves. I believe these slaves are currently mentally dominated, and thus constitutes as theft of property. It was these slaves who killed your daughter."

Odarath stared at Yasilithi.

"You do realize that you're making a hefty accusation. Wrongfully accusing my slaves is akin to insulting my honor. Show me proof."

Yasilithi nodded.

"Follow me. We shall enter the slave cages."

Odarath nodded to two of his guards standing at attention, who promptly flew over to stand on either side of his flanks. Yasilithi led the group, followed by Saalodiv, then Odarath, and finally his two guards. Slave retainers ran after the group from below. The moving slave corpse was crushed and destroyed by Saalodiv's breath.

"I caught on their scent while asking around disguised as a slave. One of the city's slaves, Aelinia, gave me the first step towards the right direction. After interrogating a couple of other groups of slaves, I figured out that the main slave responsible for controlling the husks was within a small group of about eleven slaves. I don't know which it is, but it's one of them."

Yasilithi, while questioning other slaves, had heard rumors of a group of slaves who wander during the night, while everyone was asleep, performing strange and horrifying rituals in an attempt to gain the same magical powers as dragons. They were all mutilated versions of their original race, warped beyond all recognition. Some slaves claimed to have witnessed these slaves prostrating to something in the shadows that their dark vision couldn't make out. They tell stories of how shadows would lash out on slaves who venture too close, killing those who didn't get away in time. Those who died to the tendrils would melt into the shadows, never to be seen again. It was clear that the shadow dragon has placed many shadow tendrils within the city, much like the ones that had attacked Yasilithi.

When the group arrived at the cages, they could see that the cage was shrouded in an inky black veil. Astonished, Odarath howled out in exclamation.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Yasilithi stepped forward, and white hot flames burned away at the shadow, but couldn't penetrate the veil. Taken aback, he laced his flames with some of his soul, making the flames glow brighter and burning a hole into the black fog. A small dragon, clan in scales that mirrored the night, jumped out yelping and flapping its wings in a futile attempt to put out the flames.

"AHHHHHH! STOP THE FLAMES! STOP IT!"

Curious, Yasilithi motioned to lower his fire, but Odarath stopped him.

"Let this dragon burn for a while."

"NO, NO, I SWEAR, THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK! LET ME EXPLAAAAIN!"

They stared, watching as the dragon writh and squirm around. The shadow surrounding the cage dissipated, revealing husks of slave bodies.

"HOW AM I HURT BY THESE UNGODLY FLAMES?! WHAT SORT OF WILD MAGIC IS THIS?!"

Yasilithi started to smell charred flesh, and stopped his flames from burning.

"Because these are not wild magic fire, shadowed one."

The dragon collapsed, huffing and puffing in exhaustion. Odarath motioned to his guards, who marched forward, gripped either of his shoulders, and hoisted the dragon up.

"Speak."

Half-delirious from pain, the dragon groaned, and shook his head to clear his mind. He shrugged off the guards, and stood proud before Odarath, who was clearly a head and neck taller than him.

"Look... I am... Well, my name isn't important. I'm a dragon scholar experimenting with dead subjects. I wanted to see what happens if we imbued some of our souls into bodies of varying age. What I discovered was that we create bodies that could be remotely controlled, albeit requiring extreme focus to properly control, with fine movement impossible, unlike remote golems. This was utterly useless for my research, until I discovered that when I let go of my control over the body, the dead remain animate."

The dragon wheezed, and examined the place where he was burned the worst.

"Well cooked, Knight. The stories of your strength are no joke. You burned my flesh almost to the bone, yet cauterized my wound from bleeding out."

Odarath let out a deep growl. The dragon flinched, and lowered his head.

"Yes, yes, I'm getting to it. So, the dead remains animate. They walk about, attacking anything that moves. It's quite a fascinating thing to observe. After a while, they fall to the ground, having expended all of the soul I imbued into it. So I wondered, what happens if I imbue this same spell into a living slave? Well, it results in a grotesque mutilation of the slave's body, which was irreversible. And also an insatiable appetite for blood once my soul magic ran out. Now, to explain this phenomenon would require extensive lectures on the relationship between blood and soul, but the general consensus was that the closest property to the soul, which powers our Wild Magic, was blood. The appetite for it was to replace my piece of soul that, I theorize, had replaced the slave's soul when the spell is used on a slave. Certain slaves have a certain... synergy with this magic. And certain dragons could use this spell, while others cannot. I won't get into the details of that nonsense."

The dragon paused, and tried to catch his breath. He limped towards the cage, and pointed to a body. The elf, Yasilithi recognized, was Illuthin.

"This is my wood elf slave, Wundel. For some unknown reason, he had a very special reaction to my spell when I imbued him with my soul. He could control shadows like me, to a lesser extent, which I found out too late. He also retained most of his own will. He hid most of his powers from me, only choosing to show me results I wanted to see, which was retention of intelligence and an increase in personal strength, as well as enhanced dark vision. When I allowed my soul to run its course through his body, he pretended to collapse. Naturally, I tossed his body out."

The scholar sighed.

"It appeared that he was able to infest others with my magic, keeping a tiny part of my soul to maintain control over Wild Magic, while using mainly blood to satisfy his hunger and persistence. I was able to track him down using the tiny soul he kept within him. For a slave to so expertly wield Wild Magic despite not ever having training in it..."

Yasilithi nodded, accepting the scholar's explanation. However, Odarath grew angrier.

"Why did you kill my daughter and frame me? Get on to that NOW!"

The dragon looked flabbergasted.

"Eh? They did what?"

Yasilithi spoke up.

"The frame part... I don't think that was intentional."

"I don't care. It made me look bad. No one tarnishes my reputation and gets away with it."

The dragon backed up.

"Calm down, Lord! I believe that... perhaps Wundel and his minions believed that drinking the blood of a sufficiently powerful dragon would grant them full use of Wild Magic?"

"I won't accept that explanation! Is that slave dead? I must speak to it, and show it the error of crossing with me."

"It's too late. I extracted my soul from his body. That killed every-"

Odarath roared in anger, and slashed at the dragon scholar, who yelped in pain. His talons left a deep gnash that ran from the dragon's face, down the neck, and to his chest. His tough dragon scale and hide did nothing to mitigate an attack by one of the Loern.

Yasilithi coughed, and stared at Odarath. This was a favorable development, seeing as the culprit practically turned himself in. He fulfilled his end of the bargain. He didn't care that Odarath didn't get the closure he wanted. All he cared about was getting the correct route Lady Pakuri went through, and he was already delayed by a couple of sun cycles. If Odarath didn't tell him what he wanted to know, he'll just have to force it out of Odarath himself. Teverin was already convinced that the shadow dragon had a horde, which probably isn't true at this point, so Odarath will have to cough it up in its place.

Odarath looked at Yasilithi, and sighed. He didn't want to deal with another problem, and decided to make it go away immediately.

"Alright, let me give time. I shall write the location to you. Follow the instructions to the letter."

—

The Dragon Emperor's territory contained many naturally occurring phenomena that could only be described as beautiful. It was hotly debated amongst Dragon Sages if this was the result of an ancient spell casted by an ancient Dragon Emperor dozens of millennia ago, or if it simply was this way from the initial genesis of the world. No one could explain why such natural wonders could occur, as the brightest Wild Magic users could not replicate a persistent Wild Magic effect that mimics whatever happened in here.

For example, in the tropical flatlands of the southwestern area of the Dragon Emperor's domain, there exist a powerful whirlwind that spans thousands of meters across and reaches a height higher than a dragon can fly. This natural phenomena picks up strength every one hundred and twenty seasons, where it collects debris from the surrounding area. Dragons who enter the enormous tornado to explore came back out to report an astonishing discovery: the tornado magnified the stars in the sky.

It became a vital part of the Dragon Emperor's territory, as it helped his astrologers examine signs of the future from the positions of the stars. The future looked grim: his astrologers had recently predicted a cataclysmic event that will wipe out draconic society as they knew it. They warned the Dragon Emperor to start using his almighty Wish-granting powers to gather mighty weapons to avert this event. Little did these dragons knew: they had already set in motion a series of events that will lead to their downfall.


	4. Intermission

Intermission

Teverin sniffed the wind. He felt something was about to change today. He was leading a contingent of Knights to invade another territory, but he could not shake off a feeling of uneasiness. This was unprecedented. A dragon as mighty as he, feeling nervous before the eve of battle? This was not right. He looked behind him.

His children, mighty Loern soldiers and Draconic heroes even by his own standards, watched vigilantly for disorder amongst the ranks of their Knights. Of course, the Knights are an extremely well disciplined bunch, nothing in comparison to the lazy and weak soldiers his enemies had. But what his enemies lack in quality certainly makes up in quantity. His twin children, Joti and Jozi always reminded him to give caution and mind their tactics behind battle. Teverin always felt that the use of tactics rather than straightforward clashes was cowardly, but he disregarded it as merely a feature meant to crush his enemies faster. The Twins had more than earned their respect and his benefit of the doubt.

He watched the sea of red scales glimmer underneath the hot summer sun, each Knight barely noticing the intense heatwave currently going on. Below him, he barely acknowledged the tens of thousands of slaves faithfully keeping up with their masters. They stripped the land of resources and prey as they rolled by, both starving the enemy of their supplies and sustaining themselves for the journey.

Teverin thought back to the day the Dragon Emperor made an announcement to his Dragon Lords. He had proudly held up an item for all of his Lords to see. It was an incredibly powerful item, so rare and beautiful and delicious that Teverin could not believe that such an item exists. No Wild Magic item, no precious gem or metal or craft could compare to what the Dragon Emperor beheld before them. It was as if a world, with all its magic, had condensed itself into one form. His nose had tickled with delight, and his greed flared up. He could observe the same greed filling the eyes of the other Dragon Lords there.

But the Dragon Emperor had also made a startling revelation. He introduced five humans and a strange-looking monster and declared that these people are their superiors and not to be harmed. They are to be given a piece of land far west, within the domain of a Dragon Lord who had been skipping out on providing tribute to the Dragon Emperor. Naturally, all the Lords there were bewildered. Why would they give such respect and servitude to a race that has hitherto been known as very weak and subservient slaves? Perhaps the bone creature could've been a threat, as they have never seen such a race before, but humans?

Of course the Dragon Lord who had a large chunk of his domain taken away from him protested. His retainers flared up their wings and surrounded their Lord to protect him. The Dragon Emperor, predicting this, told him to kill the humans and the bone-man if he wanted his domain back. What happened next was a sight Teverin never thought he would never see before.

The retainers spread their wings, and breathed fury on the humans, who were shocked by this development. The Dragon Emperor nodded to them, and they sprang into action as one. The frost breath from the dragons didn't even seem to affect them. The bone man reached out and closed its hand while muttering something, and one of the dragons, a massive white-scaled dragon, fell from the sky, as if the Sun himself clipped his wings. He didn't even twitch as his body crashed onto the six strange beings. The retainers and their Lord stared in shock, as if they couldn't believe their eyes. Then, another sight happened that Teverin couldn't believe. Fire rained down from the sky, and a massive meteor dropped from the clouds, smashing onto a couple of retainers and instantly gibbing them into bits. The dead dragon on the ground was then split in half, and a human wielding a massive sword jumped into the air. He spun around and promptly decapitated the final retainer defending the Dragon Lord. Fresh blood glistened in the air and fell onto the ground, promptly freezing everything it touched. The Dragon Lord roared, and angrily swiped at the human, expecting to instantly crush it to death. Teverin by now expected the human to survive. But to watch it casually swat the claw strike away, as if it was an attack made by a playful dragonling and not the mightiest dragon in the West, shook him to his core. This was a dragon almost as mighty as Teverin himself, who had his attacks instantly negated by a puny human.

It was obvious that no dragon, Lord or otherwise, wished to meddle with the affairs of those individuals after the death of the West's Dragon Lord. The rest of the dead Dragon Lord's domain quickly fell apart, and the six individuals took this opportunity to conquer the rest of the region and established a safe haven for humans. This event, and the already rarity of humans within the slave market, caused the price for humans to skyrocket, as every dragon wanted to see if they could breed their own powerful human. It didn't help that humans now flock to the west in search of freedom and safety.

Teverin had felt the world weep at the arrival of such powerful individuals, who stood above even the mightiest race. They were abominations and should not have existed, but their arrival also comes with the appearance of "items as powerful as the world itself", as the Dragon a Emperor called it. The risk was worth the price. Still... Teverin, who could proudly proclaim himself the mightiest warrior dragon in the land, felt that if he were to attack the human who wielded that sword, he would die. This troubled him to no end.

And for some reason, one hundred years after that event occurred... Teverin had the same feeling again. Some thing has happened that caused the world to wail. And he could see it affect the morale of his troops. They, too, felt something had happened. But nevertheless, everyone pushed on.

—

Yasilithi felt a change in the air. He felt... He felt the world scream in pain, and it was an unsettling feeling. He had never experienced this feeling before. The closest he had felt to this was when when he had first witnessed the power of the six so-called "gods", as the humans have come to call them, during the Dragon Lord Summit a century ago. But that was a different feeling. The world wept at their existence, but it didn't wail in pain. He had felt that same feeling again a couple of days ago, but he didn't think much of it until now. And Yasilithi did not like what terrible omen it implied.

He saw silhouettes in the distance. The sun was high in the sky, and he could spot black and red scales. Yasilithi frowned. If that was Teverin's forces, why was there so few? But if those were enemy forces... They numbered too few to be a threat.

Yasilithi called to his comrades below him to stand at attention, and prepare to receive an enemy scouting party. He shot forward, preparing to kill enough dragons so his fellow Knights could muster enough forces in time to repel a second wave. One red dragon was flying faster than the rest. Yasilithi flew towards it, preparing to melt its scales... When he could recognize the dragon. He could recognize Vorun, captain of the Knights and the Night Bearer when he isn't in an offensive raid. He was a powerful dragon, who rivaled Yasilithi in strength, and he felt his stomach tying into a knot when he took one look at Vorun's face. It was a look of panic.

"Yasilithi! I am glad to see you! Retreat! Run, now! They are too powerful!"

"Hold, brother, what are you talking about? Where is Teverin? What happened?"

Vorun gulped, and looked behind him.

"I bring news from the front. They had wiped us out. Would've killed us if Joti didn't sound for the retreat. We... We thought we had killed one, but it got right back up! As if nothing has happened! They are unkillable, Yasilithi, unkillable!"

Yasilithi grasped on to Vorun's face. His claws dug into Vorun's face, but Vorun's scales were thick enough to prevent any damage.

"How? What kind of dragon could do that? And I'll not repeat this again. Where. Is. Teverin?"

Vorun shook his head.

"Not dragons. Humans and other creatures we've never seen before. It's... It's them again, Yasilithi."

"Them? I thought they only stayed in the west. That was the agreement!"

"No, Yasilithi! There were eight of them this time! They slaughtered us!"

Vorun wailed in agony, and charged home, disregarding Yasilithi's question about Teverin.

By now, Imerina had joined him with a couple of other Knights. They watched Vorun race towards the Mountain City with his tail tucked in between his legs.

Imerina gave Yasilithi a questioning look.

"My Lady... It's them. What the Dragon Emperor called 'players'. What the humans call gods."

"...A century has passed without any incident, and they decide to attack us now?"

"No, it's different. There are eight of them this time."

Yasilithi delivered that statement with a somber look.

"By the light of the Sun... May he have mercy on us."

By now, the Twins and Svalinn has reached them, along with only a couple of Knights. They had a look of extreme exhaustion, as if they had been flying non-stop to get here. It appeared that Joti had casted Wild Magic that allowed Vorun to go farther faster to bring the news in advance. There were no signs of the slaves.

Imerina flew forward.

"Where's Teverin?"

They looked at each other, with color draining from their scales. Yasilithi couldn't shake the bad feeling welling from his heart. He didn't want to believe that had happened. It couldn't have happen. Teverin was invincible.

"Svalinn. I ask again. Where's Teverin?"

Her voice trembled. Svalinn shook her head, and her whole body shivered despite the summer heat. She couldn't speak. A mighty Loern dragon, regarded and hailed as a hero amongst the dragon race, was shivering and scared for her own life.

Then the Twins spoke softly in unison.

"He's dead."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Following the instructions Odarath gave him, Yasilithi crossed the intricately carved pathways within the Northern City. The complex maze would've surely turned him around if he didn't have his map to guide him. The map, enchanted with a Clairvoyance spell, would last only for about another three hours; this was more than enough time for Yasilithi to traverse the city. The map only showed Yasilithi what the shortest path to his goal was, but it doesn't show him if the path was blocked due to a cave-in or if some other obstacle blocked an otherwise fine path, which was where Odarath's instructions come in.

The path Yasilithi took was the most direct path towards the Dragon Emperor's domain. Given the importance of the Dragon Emperor's Tribute, it would make sense for Teverin to pay his dues as soon as he can. Still, it would be a security nightmare for Lady Pakuri if dragons knew in advance which path she would take, even if her life was guarded by some of the most elite dragons in Draconic society. Given how the Emperor's Tribute happens annually, Pakuri is forced to take a different path every year to mitigate potential enemy attacks.

While there are no official dangers from soldiers loyal to the Dragon Emperor, nor will there ever be danger posed by Odarath's soldiers, dragon bandits and rogue deserters do sometimes populate the land. These dragons are considered the lowest of the low: dishonorable, criminal, and untrustworthy. They have no real domain, instead, they are led by a leader who goes where the wind blows. They plunder caravans for provisions, strip the land of its resources from the actual masters of the domain, and generally cause a nuisance for whomever owned the lands they occupy at the time. They are the reason why all caravan and trade merchants contain soldier escorts. During the annual Emperor's Tribute, the bandits learn which caravan from which domain generally contain the most amount of Dragon Egg to plunder. Since House Loern caravans come from very wealthy lands, they make prime targets for various bandits bands.

However, with such high rewards, high risks always follow. Loern Knights are famous throughout the known world as some of the fiercest fighting force in the world. Stories proclaim that the Knights fight fiercely to their last dying breath, and never turn tail in cowardice or defeat. Such was the respect Teverin instilled to the Knights, that their natural dragon's pride is overridden by their sense of loyalty. This fanatical loyalty to following their orders, even if it means their death, makes the cost of plundering Loern caravans extremely expensive. Only the most inexperienced and numerous bands of bandits would dare try plundering Loern caravans. Yasilithi himself has participated in the defense of many caravan trips while as a Knight in Training, as well as a fresh Knight.

Before embarking on this journey, the Twins predicted that the amount of bandits would rise after the death of Teverin's brother. They had written a letter for Yasilithi to bring to Pakuri ordering her to stay put within the Dragon Emperor's domain while they send additional reinforcements to protect her on the journey back to the Mountain City. While teleportation was possible, the distance between the Dragon Emperor's Golden City, where the Tribute Ritual takes place, made the soul cost insurmountable. The Dragon Emperor also does not permit teleportation into, nor out of, his domain, under the threat of strict financial penalties.

As Yasilithi made his way out of the cave systems, he could immediately sense a shift in his immediate surroundings. Motes of light danced in the sky like stars, the wind sang with a hint of otherworldly beauty, and the land itself shifted colors. This was the fabled magical land known as the Dragon Emperor's domain, and Yasilithi has never seen anything like it before. What existed here could never possibly exist anywhere else, and indeed, it was as if the sheer wondrous nature of the Emperor's land was cut off cleanly, with a bladed claw, at the very edges of his border. Such was the claim to power that the Dragon Emperor wielded, that even the land and sky bowed to the imagination of the mightiest known dragon in the world. There were stories of how his Wild Magic was so legendary, and so ancient, that even dragons could be affected by his magic.

Yasilithi shuddered, and a familiar feeling returned. He only felt this intimidated by the power of another dragon once in his life, and that was when he stared down the battle-mad eyes of Teverin alongside his Brothers in Training. He could feel the power of the world rippling beneath his feet, beckoning Yasilithi to try and harness their powers with his limited knowledge of Wild Magic. But Yasilithi knew better. He had seen the consequences of using Wild Magic without actually knowing what it does or without the correct soul amount to sacrifice. Random surges would happen, and the outcome would almost always be catastrophic. This was the leading cause of death while training under the watchful eyes of the mother dragon during Wild Magic lessons. It was the cause of death for his own brother. Surges were less likely to happen the more skilled one was with Wild Magic, which was why the Loern hardly ever used Magic outside of their limited buffs.

Yasilithi hurried down the path, quickly following the ancient, beaten field below him. Already, he had sensed signs of fighting. He smelled the blood of various species, slave and dragon alike. He recognized the bodies of elite slaves all Loern bring with them, along with even more unidentified bodies around them. Their weapons were not anywhere to be found. Further down ahead, Yasilithi saw the bodies of about a dozen or so dragons, undoubtedly newly minted bandits who underestimated the small number of troops Pakuri brought with her. Yasilithi could see and smell the charred, blackened scale and skin, fused together by intense flames, on every single body. He did not recognize anyone amongst the burning corpses, which meant his brothers were still all alive and actively protecting Pakuri.

Yasilithi breathed a sigh of relief. He had cared for the well-being of his Brother Knights, as they had fought and trained together, through thick and thin, and had most definitely saved each other's scales more than once over the centuries. The older Knights were legends even amongst the ranks of Knights, and were rumored to be unstoppable heroes who could almost rival the Loern dragons in strength. They almost always made up the core guard of any outgoing member of the Loern family. The captain of Lady Pakuri's guard, Vorun, was a close friend of Yasilithi's and Night Bearer when not in active duty. His strength rivaled that of Yasilithi's, but could beat Yasilithi in a hypothetical fight by virtue of having centuries of experience more than the younger dragon.

Eager to meet with his mentor while as a fresh Knight, as it has been almost a century since he had last seen his friend, Yasilithi pressed on forward. While he was delayed by several days in the Northern City, Lady Pakuri and her escort travelled by foot, since they were moving with their massive tribute in tow. This meant that progress was painfully slow, which was why Pakuri and her escort always set out early to make it on time for the Tribute. What would take them several weeks to travel to where they are now, took Yasilithi mere days to catch up.

As the sun rose up, Yasilithi couldn't help but roar to the sun in worship. Fulfilling his duty as the Sun Bearer, he prayed to the Sun to grant him the strength to protect Pakuri's life and fulfill his mission. Almost immediately, he sensed a wave of killing intent in the distance. Barking orders could be heard in preparation for a hostile encounter. Smiling mischievously, Yasilithi decided to ascend far into the clouds. Several large figures in the distance immediately shot forward after him, along with a small few smaller specks slowly following them. Hidden in the clouds, Yasilithi stalked his prey. He could hear the wooshing of wings as Knights fanned out to search for their adversary. Yasilithi was confident that no one amongst the Knights could use weather-manipulating or location divining Wild Magic, so he was safely hidden in the clouds, with his scent conveniently masked by the scented vapors the clouds contained.

Yasilithi's eyes quickly detected a shadow appearing behind him. He lashed out with his tail, and smacked the back of the dragon's head, causing it to wobble and descend from the clouds in panic. Clearly, the Knights did not expect a powerful opponent. After all, what were the chances of meeting an individual who was just as skilled as they were in the art of melee combat? Yasilithi picked off dragons one by one, avoiding the smaller shadows, as he did not wish to waste the lives of the elite slave guards, until he saw the silhouette of his target. A dragon just as big as himself, with a distinctly misshapen wing. Roaring, Yasilithi lunged at his target breathing fire that evaporated the moisture around him. With a reaction speed that defied all logic, the Knight met Yasilithi's fire with an equally powerful breath of his own. The two clashed, their breaths utterly extinguishing all traces of the cloud from the sky. They could clearly see each other now, but the challenge was on. The dragon had understood that Yasilithi had intended to test their mettle.

Yasilithi opened with a swipe to the side, his other arm tucked in to block any body blows. His opponent countered by dodging the swipe, and quickly head butted Yasilithi's side. Normally, most other dragons would meet nothing but tough dragon scale and daze themselves by ramming onto Yasilithi's underbelly. But Knights are no ordinary dragons, and this dragon was an exception even amongst the Knights. With the wind knocked out of Yasilithi, and unable to react properly to subsequent attacks, Yasilithi retreated. But flying backwards is a much slower task than flying forwards for a dragon, and his action only delayed the inevitable. As if anticipating Yasilithi's movements, the Knight flew forward at the same time Yasilithi flew backwards, and grabbed his head, slamming it onto his knees. Without letting go, the dragon, with agility that defied his size, flew around and over Yasilithi's body, and... Stopped. Had he continued, Yasilithi's neck would've snapped and fly clean off his shoulders. His body would've been dead cold before hitting the ground.

Laughing, the dragon gingerly let go of Yasilithi's head, and patted him on the cheeks. Yasilithi laughed in return and clasped his claws.

"Yasilithi, you handsome dragon! Almost took out my squad. Most worthy of the Sun Bearer title! Had you not been hasty with your first move, this would've been a tough fight."

"My thanks to you, Master Vorun! It has been a century since I've seen you! I thoroughly enjoy your feedback, and shall take it to heart."

"It has, hasn't it? Time really flies by when you think about it... Tell me, do you have a mate yet? And don't call me master. We are peers now."

The two dragons flew down, and the Knights on the ground were relieved to see a familiar face. The slaves had cleared the sky the moment they saw Yasilithi.

"No, I haven't really given it much thought yet."

"No? A dragon as strong as yourself should've been having swarms of females clamoring to be your mate. You're old enough to be a parent now, Yasilithi."

"Well... I'm not really interested in being a father."

"Well, if you're ever interested, my daughter is about to become a Knight soon. She just needs to face Master Teverin's final test once more. I would be a very proud father if you were to take her as your mate."

"Sir, that is for your daughter to decide."

"Fair enough, youngling. Tell me, what brings you all the way here from Strunmahsahsun?"

By now, both had touched the ground. Yasilithi looked at Pakuri and bowed deeply. All the Knights and slaves flanked her sides, and Vorun stood between Pakuri and Yasilithi. Even though he knew who Yasilithi was, his first duty is to ensure all threats to Pakuri is addressed.

"I bring a letter from the Twins to Lady Pakuri. For her Lady's eyes only, I'm afraid."

Yasilithi opened his pouch, and took out a gold-embroidered letter. He gave it to Vorun, who opened the letter. He grunted in satisfaction, as he couldn't read the contents, and handed it over to Pakuri. She read the contents and nodded.

"Yasilithi Ragrivin, you are now a part of my guard duty until we receive additional reinforcements from Strunmahsahsun. How delightful. It is rare to have both the Night Bearer and the Sun Bearer in one place. I worry for the safety of our home though."

Vorun looked at Pakuri in disbelief.

"What do you mean by additional reinforcements, my lady? Are we not enough? Do the Twins distrust our abilities?"

Pakuri shook her head.

"I don't mean it that way, Vorun. Please, keep your pride in check. It appears that the Twins worry for my safety when we return from the Tribute. We shall be staying within His Majesty's city until then. Yasilithi should be able to explain more... Something about an invasion, I was told?"

Yasilithi bowed. The Knights gathered around Yasilithi to hear of the latest news from their home.

"We were attacked by a fighting force of over 300 dragons, lead by Master Teverin's apparent brother. We do not know his name, as Master Teverin has decreed that his brother dies a nameless dragon."

Whispers spread throughout the Knights. Vorun looked at Yasilithi in disbelief.

"Don't pull my wings. 300? No leader has ever amassed those numbers before. Not even Master Teverin. Even then, we don't have enough Knights to kill that many and live to tell the tale."

"It was a suicidal charge, meant to crush us and take our homes. The enemy planned to occupy our cave once we were all killed. This was evident by the sheer number of dragon younglings who perished attacking the side entrances into the city. Our own Knights in Training and Younglings who have yet passed their Test of Combat led a valiant and successful defense."

"So how did we win? If you're here, then obviously our home wasn't destroyed, and there would be spare Knights to defend the city."

"Master Teverin slew his brother in a duel, as expected. The remaining army retreated after witnessing their leader killed. The Twins probably believe some, if not a majority, of those dragons shall turn to banditry, hence the enhanced escort back home."

"Hmm... Well, we didn't notice any real increase in bandits lately. But I trust the Twins' judgement. We shall hold out within the Golden City until more Knights arrive. I pray to the Sun that our Tribute is sufficient to buy us enough goodwill to stay in the city for a short period of time."

Vorun turned, and ordered the slaves to keep moving. The Tribute to the Dragon Emperor is kept locked safely in a giant Adamantite box, filled to the brim with various precious Dragon Eggs. The Dragon Emperor prefers gold, but his son prefers platinum eggs, so the chest is full of both gold and platinum Dragon Eggs. Various artistic pieces crafted by Teverin's most skilled dwarves and humans were also buried within the mix, all of which depicted the glorious might of the Dragon Emperor. As such, the Tribute is incredibly heavy. It would be no problem if dragons were to move the transport, and perhaps if Teverin were to purchase some Unbreathed slaves for his home, they would've sped up the Tribute transportation process. Alas, they had to make do without Unbreathed, and so an army of exceptionally strong slaves were used.

Groaning, the slaves pressed forward, and the Tribute started moving. Pakuri rested on top of the Tribute, and the Knights flanked her on all sides. Yasilithi and Vorun, the representation of the Loern Knights' might, took the lead.

—

The rest of the journey to the Golden City was uneventful. Like any caravan trip, sporadic bandit attacks happen, but as time went on, the attacks occur less and less frequent the closer they were to the Golden City. Soldier patrols from the Dragon Emperor's domain happen more and more frequently, thus further deterring bandits from entering too deep into their territory.

Due to the Dragon Emperor's immense wealth, he is capable of putting a small bounty on every bandit killed. Bandits are already rare as it is, as not many dragons prefer its nomadic lifestyle and dishonorable methods. The bounty system is mainly to encourage his soldiers to expand their patrol areas and engage any bandits they encounter. As such, the closer one gets to a City, the safer the road. Other territories usually do not have the same bounty system as the Dragon Emperor usually because the territory's Lord is too greedy to part with any more Dragon Eggs than he has to. This usually results in slightly more dangerous roads for merchants and travelers to tread through. As such, trading within the Dragon Emperor's domain, and in between the Loern's Northern City and the Dragon Emperor's Golden City is a hotly frequented road, which greatly expanded the Dragon Emperor's already overflowing coffers.

The Golden City was an open-air City made of gold, which sat upon a flat field of grass that offered an unrivaled view of the surrounding lands. The centerpiece of the city, and the place where the Dragon Emperor resides, is the Platinum Palace, which was a massive, ancient, flying structure that took its slaves several centuries to build, and was unrivaled in terms of beauty, size, and value. Even the Loern's own Citadel pales in comparison to the Platinum Palace. The Palace made the nose of every dragon that ever saw it tingle with excitement and greed, and it swarmed with guards to prevent any trespassers. It was the symbol of the Dragon Emperor's indomitable power, and his immeasurable wealth. To represent the Dragon Emperor's influence over the world, all paths that branched into the world will eventually lead back to the Platinum Palace. The Tribute Ritual takes place within a section of the Palace, as well as the Dragon Lord's Gathering, which takes place every ten years.

As the Loern's Tribute draws closer to the Golden City, they started to spot other caravans and Tributes making their way to the city from various other domains. Some Tribute had guards twice as numerous as the Loern's own, which spoke of that domain's wealth, and others with less guards bore signs of wear from battle. Given how fresh their soldiers still looked, it appeared that bandits largely steered clear of the larger Tributes and were insignificant to the smaller ones.

The natural law of strength also applied to each domain and their Dragon Lord: if their soldiers and Tribute could not make it to the Tribute Ritual due to the dangers of the road, then they were not strong enough to deserve the domain and the title of Dragon Lord. This usually means either a new Dragon Lord rises from the ashes to complete the Tribute, or a neighboring Dragon Lord takes it as a sign to invade. Thus, completing the Tribute was also a sign of strength in Draconic politics.

Everyone knew of the Loern and their Knights, and did not scoff at the number of Knights present. Within the Dragon Emperor's domain, open conflict and hostilities was forbidden. Constraint and discipline was demanded by the soldiers of every Domain's representative, and so only the most well-behaved soldiers were selected for the job. Even then, every soldier from the different Domains had begrudging respect for each other. They would have no reason to attack each other unless directly ordered.

Yasilithi saw Vorun nod at several dragons as the roads joined together. They all nodded back, in respect, but did not say anything. Their leaders, perched on top of the Tribute just like Pakuri, completely ignored one another as their slaves groaned on underneath. They have all gone to war with each other at some point in the past, and to avoid breaking the Dragon Emperor's law, they chose to simply ignore each other's existence. The entire congregation culminated at the entrance of the Golden City, where great gates were erected and large swarms of soldiers patrolled. Normally, these gates were largely symbolic, but with tributes in tow, no dragon is willing to part with the riches contained within to fly over the gates, and thus must wait for the guards by the gates. Slowly, one by one, as the Dragon Emperor's soldiers processed each Tribute and the domain from which it hailed from, the line outside shrunk. When it was time for House Loern's Tribute, the soldiers merely glanced at her shiny black scales, and nodded her through.

There were four main territories in the world, all hailing from the four directions of the world. The Dragon Lord of the West, Krahdrog=Lah Pruina. The Dragon Lord of the East, Vithahrkut Furtim. The Dragon Lord of the North, Fonaarven Japeto. The Dragon Lord of the South, Teverin Loern. Their names and Houses are world-famous, and the only dragons who could rival Teverin in terms of might and magic. During the Tribute Ritual, due to their distinguished Houses, the Dragon Emperor's soldiers hardly need to verify their existence. In fact, if they were missing from the Tribute, their absence would be sorely noticed. Due to the lack of proximity between their borders, they normally have no quarrel with each other. However, ever since House Loern began pushing their territory closer and closer to House Pruina's territory over the past few decades, Pruina began rapidly expanding towards Loern territory. The minor Dragon Lords who hold territories in between the two Great Houses have all either fled or pledged their allegiance with one side or the other. The other two Great Houses have thus far stayed stagnant in territory growth.

Through the great golden gates, Yasilithi could see more dragons in one place than he had ever seen before. The structures were huge, and as the name of the city implied, were plated with gold. Some of the structures were floating in the sky, as if some ancient Wild Magic perpetuated their eternal flight. Others were large enough to scrape the sky. Dragons flew from one place to another, and ramps were constructed for slaves to reach the floating buildings. Dozens of Unbreathed dragons served as ferries for slaves and goods alike. And within the city, there were so many different types of dragons that Yasilithi has never seen before. Vorun caught Yasilithi staring at a strange-looking serpent creature.

"Oriental dragons, Yasilithi. From the East."

"Dragons? Them? They looked like giant snakes!"

Yasilithi could not help but stare in bewilderment. However, if he looked closer, he could see dozens of tiny arms and legs on either side of their bodies. They seem to grip the air, working in unison to propel them through the sky like a strange fusion of snake and centipede. Yasilithi chose to believe that's how they flew despite the lack of wings.

"Aye. They're generally peaceful, and keep to themselves. Rumor has it that they came from a massive island that showed up out of nowhere somewhere far east into the Great Ocean."

"What sort of breaths do they have?"

"It varies. From what I've seen so far, they breathe water and mist."

"We will be at an elemental disadvantage, then."

"If they are sufficiently powerful enough, indeed. But none can match the fury of our breaths, Yasilithi, other than the mighty Loern. Never forget that."

Yasilithi caught the serpent-like dragons staring at his own procession, whispering to each other. His acute draconic senses could only pick up a few words through the hustle and bustle of a giant, busy city. He heard words like "fire", "Knights", and "Southerners". He puffed out his chests, stretched his wings, and strut through the city streets. Vorun nodded in approval. In the City of a Thousand Dragons, the Loern must show that they are the mightiest of the Four Great Houses, and the Knights are proof of their greatness. The Oriental dragons looked on.

—

The Loern occupied a massive structure on southern side of the Platinum Palace. It was spacious enough for multiple dragons to perch in, and there were clear signs that the structure was occupied before. Everyone except Yasilithi knew where to go, and what to do. The slaves unpacked the provisions for the duration of the Ritual, and secured the Tribute to the center of the building. Every Knight perched on every corner of the building, inside and out, keeping a watchful eye for intruders. Pakuri herself remained still, sitting on top of the Tribute chest, as if she were the last line of defense in case some dragon did slip through her Knights' detection.

It was most likely the same situation for most other retainers. The Great Houses occupied the largest buildings, on their respective corner of the world. In between were smaller Houses that dotted the city. Most were temporary residences, filled by a first-come-first-serve basis, although this wasn't enforced. If a retainer's party wasn't strong enough to stop another party from entering, they would be forced to move somewhere else. If there were too many Dragon Lord retainers in any given year, most would end up in the streets, with their Tribute completely vulnerable to pilfering. They would have to defend their Tribute for however many nights until the Ritual arrives. Therefore, there is a risk for the smaller Houses to to come early for the Tribute only to be continuously kicked out, but there is also a risk in coming in on time for the Tribute, but with no time to relax from a long journey.

The Loern's own building had the look of a giant mountain, as was their normal habitat. The plethora of dragons living under Teverin's rule usually prefer caves and mountains as their homes. The same goes for the Western dragons, although they usually also live in underground caves and had slaves build complex underground tunnels. The Northern dragons prefer to live in the sky, and only touched down on temporary mountain stops for food and water. As such, they occupied a massive, floating platform to the north of the Platinum Palace. The Eastern Dragons occupied a beautifully forged gold statue that resembled a massive tortoise with the head of a Dragon. It was a mystery on what their habitat looked like, as their lands were usually shrouded in mist and fog. Aerial surveillance ordered by the Twins was usually muddled by intense lightning storms and thick, heavy clouds, while low-flying travels were usually halted by torrential rains.

Tomorrow would be the day of the Tribute Ritual. Tomorrow, Yasilithi would get to see all the subjects of the Dragon Emperor in all their glory, and perhaps see the Emperor himself. Yasilithi has never even heard of a description of the Dragon Emperor, as all of his current Knight Brothers were always busy elsewhere while he was on Sun Bearer duty. He has, however, witnessed His Majesty's might. No other Dragon was as capable of manipulating the World with his Wild Magic than the Dragon Emperor himself. No other dragon could make Teverin give up the Throne. He was a true dragon, strongest above all, second only to the celestial deities Sun and Moon themselves, and perhaps just as ancient.

Deciding to explore the massive city, and not wanting to get in the way of his Brothers' preparations, Yasilithi decided to set out on his own. Before he could go, however, Vorun asked Yasilithi to wait.

"Is something the matter?"

"You are not in Loern territory anymore, Youngling. It's dangerous out there."

"I am not afraid of any dragon. Nor am I a child."

"But you shall obey the Dragon Emperor's law as if they were crafted by the Twins themselves. Not doing so will sully our name."

"What could possibly be a danger to me then?"

Vorun sighed.

"Might is only half the battle in Draconic politics, little one. Many of these dragons here are older than you. Perhaps even older than me. What they lack in raw strength, they shall make up in cunning."

His eyes dart around, as if looking for an invisible threat. His eyes seem to recall a painful memory.

"Don't answer any probing questions. Don't make any promises. In fact, don't talk at all. Let me do the talking."

"What of your duties here?"

"Don't worry about that. Lady Pakuri has agreed that the senior dragon must look out for his junior, and that's all that matters."

"Hmm... if it's an order from Lady Pakuri... I have no right to refuse."

"Good. Now that that's settled, we shall go. You choose the destination, Yasilithi."

"I wish to see the Eastern Dragons."

"Then East we shall go."

—

Even at night, the City glowed with unnatural light. The stars above could not shine through the luminosity the city produced. Everything had a golden glow, which made it obvious what the Dragon Emperor's favorite color was. Yasilithi agreed: if a metal shone the same brilliance as the Sun, it must be a special color. Along the many busy streets, a golden sphere floated above, similar to the one Odarath owned, but smaller and glowed brighter. They were evenly spaced apart, and provided light for the various slave races that could not see in the dark. It was also a testament to the Dragon Emperor's confidence: he was not afraid of making his City a glowing beacon, because he was infinitely sure that no one dared take his throne.

Yasilithi and Vorun followed down a path towards the oriental dragons' statue. Along the streets were various retainers and their soldiers browsing the city's own bustling shops, hoping to purchase quality equipment for their best slaves or find a nice meal. Slaves ran or flew to and from shops, delivering various items ranging from scrolls to Dragon Eggs to large crates of food. They watched as retainers aggressively showed off how well equipped and well fed their own slaves were, as the strength of a Lord could be implied from how well-kept their best slave soldiers were. There were places where retainers ordered their best pet champions to fight each other, to prove that their slaves were the strongest and had the best equipment. The Dragon Emperor's law prohibited dragons from engaging in open hostility, but that does not mean that slaves could not fight each other. Thus, this was one way retainers can let off some steam during the Tribute.

No one dared challenged the Four Great Houses' slave champions, however. It was an unspoken rule that only the Great Houses can challenge each other. The slave champions House Loern generally fielded were Cave Troll champions, who specialized in medium ranged combat. House Furtim of the East had Human slave champions, who specialized in melee combat. House Pruina of the West fielded ice elementals as their champions and thoroughly benefited from their masters' Ice Breath. House Japeto of the North had frost giant champions, hailing from the highest mountains, and had deadly accuracy when throwing large boulders. Every single Great House had impeccable weapons and armors for their slaves. Their slaves also were very well-fed, and shone with a sense of power that placed them leagues above others of their own race. Even the Loern, with their pitiful knowledge of Wild Magic, fielded impressive gear for their slaves, due to their massive talent pool within their territory.

A cursory sniff from Yasilithi told him that, while the equipment sold in the Golden City were decent, they still paled in comparison to the Loern slave champion equipment. These equipment sold were for the common rabble, and were sold for, in his opinion, outrageous prices.

As they came closer to the oriental dragon territory within the city, they started to spot more and more human slaves mingling within the crowd. Yasilithi gave Vorun a surprised look, as he knew humans were some of the most frail species he's ever seen.

"I had that same look when I saw them the first time, Yasilithi. But trust me, these humans can give our own cave trolls serious trouble."

The humans had shimmering robes, wore masks that took on the faces of their masters, and didn't carry any weapons. However, they had massive, spiked gauntlets equipped.

"I don't see how."

Vorun chuckled.

"One day, perhaps you will get to see how strong humans can become if you train them up a bit."

"Perhaps."

"Oh, yes, I forgot to mention. Humans are the chosen slave champions the Eastern dragons field. It appears that humans in the East worship their dragons, like how we worship the Sun."

"How blasphemous. The Sun is a true god; he cannot die, nor can he be touched. He has shone on this world ever since the first dragons roamed this land. These Eastern dragons shall fall before my claws just as easily as any other dragon."

"Careful now, Yasilithi. I admire your confidence as a Knight Brother, but they are a Great House for a reason. Keep that in mind."

Vorun paused, and looked around.

"We are close to their statue."

They left the main road, turned a corner, and followed a wide path snaking away. The bustle of slave and dragon voices died away, and a more solemn tone wafted through the streets. The air felt humid, and the streets were almost exclusively lined with humans. They gazed at the two blood-red scales dragons with astonishment, and scurried away when Yasilithi glared at them. They witnessed statues and other crude artwork erected in their masters' image: long serpentine bodies, with dragon heads, breathing fire, and large tortoise shells with dragon legs, tails, and heads protruding from the shells. These were indeed exotic dragons that Yasilithi find fascinating.

Then they saw it: a massive structure, just as impressive as their own, but much more intricately carved and decorated. It was one of the turtle dragons Yasilithi had seen statues of, and the body was made of gold, with eyes shining of bright ruby. The tail itself was glowing, as if a lit with an internal fire, and Yasilithi's nose told him it was made of a gem he has never smelled before. It was pale green in color, but not as clear nor as beautiful as emerald. It held wisps of white washed across its surface, as if the clouds themselves were imbued within the gem. While not as lustrous as other gemstones, this gem held its own beauty in a way Yasilithi could not describe. The shell of the massive statue was also made of this gem, as far as his nose could tell. The entire statue reeked of decadence. Yasilithi briefly had a passing thought as to why House Loern does not possess Eastern territory to obtain such exotic luxuries.

They flew up to the sky to view the statue in all its glory.

"Why couldn't we have something like this?"

"Well, the Dragon Emperor apparently liked the Easterners so much that he commissioned this dragon as a gift for them. Or so I've heard. Something about exotic gifts and tributes."

They watched as several Eastern dragons snaked through the air, whom in turn carefully observed Vorun and Yasilithi. Vorun, not wanting to take the risk of speaking with the Eastern dragons, decided to head back towards their own temporary home. It was already very late, and they must rest in preparation for tomorrow's Tribute.

—

"They're gone. What sort of spying value could they have gotten from simply looking at our home?"

An Eastern "long" soldier patrolling the skies pondered to his partner.

"Perhaps they simply came to see us. We are quite different from the Western world."

"Still, this must be reported to Empress Furtim. The Loern have proven themselves to be dangerous warmongers. We cannot risk the chance of another invasion."

"Do you really think they'll split their forces? They're already clamoring for war against the Pruina, if our intelligence is correct."

"Their soldiers and slaves are not weak. If it were not for our Wild Magic, I doubt we would've been able to repel their first invasion."

The elder long soldier looked at his younger comrade.

"Go. Tell the empress that the Loern's fire dragons have been spying on us."

"If you insist."

As the younger dragon slithered away, his elder looked towards the Southwest, where he spotted a giant structure resembling a mountain in the distance.

"The Great Mother help us."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The sounds of bells rang, horns bellowed, and roars echoed throughout the streets of the Golden City. The Tribute Ritual has officially begun. The sun had barely peeked its celestial body past the horizon, with just a mere whisper of sunlight to grace the land. It's rays first touched upon the Platinum Palace, making it shine an otherworldly brilliance. It was as if some great Titan, even more massive than the Northern Dragons, had carved the Moon into the shape of a glowing castle, and placed it in the middle of the sky. The night before, dozens of roars could be heard from the southern areas of the city, as the Night Bearers sounded off their warning to the Moon, the loudest of which came from the Loern Mountain. None dared to silence their mighty roars, as to do so would be casus beli for House Loern to attack and take over their territory. This morning, the same roars welled up, as the Sun Bearers gave their best encouragement to the Sun. This coincided with the bells and horns that sounded the Tribute's start. Since other territories did not follow the same religion that the southern dragons followed, they instead had slaves wake everyone up to start the day.

When Yasilithi stopped his roar, his Brother Knights had already risen and stood at attention at the perch of their building. Every dragon looked up at the Palace, but did not take flight. Suddenly, a groan could be heard from the depths of the caves. Alarmed, Yasilithi turned back, as he thought he heard the cries of Lady Pakuri, but Vorun's tail touched his wings, as if to tell him to stand down. Vorun shook his head, and without a word, looked back up at the Palace. With no other choice, Yasilithi mimicked his elder. Soon, the reason for the groans became clear: Lady Pakuri had strapped the entire Tribute chest around her body, and was manually pulling the entire chest without the help of her slaves. With every pull, her adamantite chains groaned from the strain, and yet, she kept pulling. The chains were all expertly weaved around her body so that her wings would not get caught if she folded and unfolded her wings. Her muscles ripples throughout her body, well toned and powerfully built. Her massive wings fluttered with stress, but Pakuri continued to pull.

Yasilithi suddenly understood why Pakuri was lethargic the entire trip to the Golden City. She was conserving her strength for this very moment. He observed that the other retainers had done the same as Pakuri, and surmised that this was but one trial of the Tribute Ritual. The distance from the ground to the entrance of the Palace was trivial for most dragons, but now Yasilithi understood the significance of a flying palace. It was to test the strength of every Dragon Lord who served under the Dragon Emperor. For Pakuri, who was a chosen mate of Teverin, her strength as a dragon should've exceeded even Yasilithi's own, and yet, she still struggles to carry the burden of their Tribute.

Pakuri reached the bottommost entrance of their residence, and spread her wings. She looked up at the Platinum Palace with a calm, determined look, and flapped her wings. A mighty gust of wind whipped across the land, and with the momentum provided by the sheer force of her wings, she took flight. Casting Wild Magic to make gravity itself less burdensome, Pakuri suddenly soared through the air as if her Tribute was a mere extension of her own body. It swung with grace, as if its every movement was planned by Pakuri. Such was only possible through millennia of practice. Yasilithi and Vorun were the first to take flight, with the former student following his former mentor's lead. Behind them, nine Knights took flight as one, with practiced ease. The lightened gravity under Pakuri's spell allowed flight to be significantly easier for every dragon, so calculations to the force of every flap must be adjusted accordingly. The fact that every dragon was able to finely control their bodies despite a drastic change in gravity was due to centuries of practice. In Yasilithi's case, while he anticipated this, due to his inexperience, he struggled to control his flight. He was not even aware that Pakuri knew a spell like this, and it gave him newfound respect for the matriarch of the Loern. All around them, dragons took flight, with various amounts of guards and Tribute chests of all shape, sizes, and composition. There were two other chests that were just as large as House Loern's.

Vorun looked to the West, and snorted.

"They didn't even bother to show up for the Tribute again. Cowards."

Yasilithi tentatively adjusted his wing flap again, and followed his senior's gaze. He noticed that the House Pruina dragons, with their iconic snow-white scales, were nowhere to be found.

"Perhaps the Twins have finally pressured them enough to worry about their front more than the Tribute?"

"I doubt it. We have not increased our presence in their territory any more than we did a century ago, but they still diligently attended the Tribute every year. This is the third year in a row that they've missed the Tribute. Perhaps they see no more value in attending the Tribute?"

"Vorun, won't the Dragon Emperor aid us in conquering the West, then?"

"I doubt it. The Dragon Emperor is perfectly happy with the size of his domain. The Tribute is not mandatory; it is merely for us to prove our strength and wealth."

"Why do we do it then? Go to the Tribute every year?"

"Dragon politics, Yasilithi. Teverin likes to prove his wealth. And perhaps there is more to his story, but it is not our place to question our master."

"Understood."

Without another word, they followed Pakuri to the entrance of the Platinum Palace.

—

The Palace itself is maintained by the Dragon Emperor's army of personal slaves. They are a race of golden-skinned elves, and they also live and flourish within the Platinum Palace. Unlike the slaves of other domains, the Dragon Emperor permits free use of his land by the elves. In other words, the elves were free to create their own culture and civilization within the walls of the Palace. This speaks to the massive size of the Palace, where an entire slave civilization could be sustained here. In exchange, the elves worshipped the Dragon Emperor as if he were a god. Such was the extent of their religious fervor that the elves will happily kill themselves to rid themselves of their sins if they insomuch as inconvenience their god. This was troublesome for the Dragon Emperor, who never expected his slaves to be so fanatical, but it could not be helped.

Hinod Aur Faraan, the Dragon Emperor, was a golden-scaled dragon, and measured roughly about 35 meters from the tip of his snout to the end of his tail. He was relatively small in physical size, but when everyone saw what he could do to his domain, no one could underestimate the power of his soul. He could never understand how or why his elves started to worship him. He's completely forgotten about the details of the deal he had made with their ancestors a long time ago, and he was sure that whatever the deal made back then, the elves had paid back tenfold, but when he tried to set them free, they all wailed and lamented, and begged him for his forgiveness. Speechless and confused, as if there was a context that was missing, Hinod told them that he was not angry or anything, and they were free to stay for as long as they wanted. So in the end, he decided to let them hang around, and hoped for the day they could walk on their own again. He would very much look forward to that day.

Hinod had no use for slaves, as his colossal soul replenished itself very quickly, and he has not yet casted a Wild Magic that could drastically drain his soul to the point of exhaustion. He had heard from some of his subjects that draining their soul to the point of exhaustion could sometimes lead to death, and thus, they substitute it with the souls of their slaves. Hinod had come to grow very fond of his elves, and fascinated by what they could create on their own, and so he felt too guilty to ask them to sacrifice themselves for something as trivial as casting a spell... even if they would do it in a heartbeat. Only a cruel god could do such a thing. Instead, he could mold the soul of the earth itself into fuel for Wild Magic if need be. It was a unique talent available only for himself.

The Dragon Emperor trudged to a silver slab, and looked down at the parchment sitting on it. It was his daily report from his dragon astrologers, who specialize in monitoring the various aspects of his empire, and notified him of news that should come to his attention. According to their reports, House Pruina failed to show up to the annual Tribute, in a blatant defiance to the political norm. Hinod shrugged. He knew that Teverin Loern would take over their land sooner or later, and so he was not worried about the lost revenue from Pruina. He also had more precious ore, ingots, minerals, and Dragon Eggs than he could use right now, so he didn't mind if a couple of Lords couldn't make it to the Tribute. Incidentally, while Hinod forgot about the deal he had made with his elves, he could never forget the deal he made with Teverin. That's why he did not fear Teverin's advancements into Pruina territory. He skimmed through the rest of the report, and didn't find anything else noteworthy. He picked up the report, and handed it to his attending elf, who promptly shredded the report, and threw the remains into a waste hole.

"Milord, the next shipment of aurumil ore should be arriving soon. We predict about after the Tribute's ending."

The elf spoke in a hushed, reverent tone.

"Hmm? Oh, good, good. Tell the smiths to ready their hammers and ignite their forges. Let's see... Last year, we forged 20 pieces of armor, spears, and shields for the Yára Ohtatyaro... this year, I want equipment appropriate for our archers."

The elf bowed.

"As you wish, O Great Lord."

"And... well, what do you think your elves need? Only using aurumil to make weapons and armor for our soldiers seem... selfish of me."

"We require whatever you think is required of us."

"Now, now, Arandur. That's hardly a productive way of thinking."

"And yet, milord, that is how I feel."

This was the same banter that went on between Hinod and Arandur, who was his prime minister for elvish affairs, every year, when the shipment of aurumil arrives. The Golden City sat atop a vast vein of extremely tough and durable gold-like ore, called aurumil, or "True Gold". It was vastly superior to adamantite, capable of cutting through Wild Magic imbued adamantite armor as if they were made of paper, even without its own enchantments. As such, when it was first discovered a couple of millennia ago, it was exceedingly difficult to mine, since even orichalcum and adamantite pickaxes would break after mining a few kilograms of ore. Mithril, however, despite it being a softer metal compared to adamantite, could pick at aurumil without breaking, although it would take much longer to mine than adamantite. After a couple of years of mining, the first aurumil tools came to tap into the veins further, and production ramped up. Aurumil could not be forged by any smith except for the most skilled and oldest elven smiths. The ingots would remain cold even under dragonfire, unless forged by a peerless master blacksmith. Because of its extreme rarity, as no other territory in the world has aurumil veins, Hinod felt it was best if he kept it a secret, and only allow his own elves forge and craft with this peculiar metal. As such, whenever Hinod ventured out of the Platinum Palace with a contingent of his elvish slaves, the other dragons would stare in utter shock of the sheer quality of their arms. Once, as a test, a Loern cave troll shot an adamantite-tipped arrow at a piece of armor, and it simply bounced off without leaving a scratch, even flattening the arrow tip, despite the bow being imbued with penetration magic.

Currently, only three peerless blacksmiths could forge aurumil, and all of them are old enough to have outlived even some dragons. The hunt for the next generation of peerless blacksmiths is currently underway, with many promising candidates.

Arandur bowed and left the room to tell those smiths to ready their forges. As the receding shape of the gold-skinned elf disappeared, Hinod sighed. He never liked the Tribute, because it always felt like he was begging his vassals for money. But his elven council told him that was the best course of action, since its a way to remind his subjects of his power, his legitimate claim to the throne, and to deplete his rivals of funds that could've been used to further build up their military. Still, his stomach always knot up whenever it was time for the Tribute. He had to pretend to be all regal and superior, and look down upon his subjects as if they were below him. Still, he had aimed to be Dragon Emperor over ten millennia ago to shift the Dragon Empire to a new direction, one that's more free and hands-off from the throne. He believed in the individuality of every dragon, and hated the way his predecessor treated his subjects.

Hinod decided to take a look at his mate first, and check on how his eggs were doing. They had tried to produce an heir for millennia, but despite trying very hard, even if their eggs hatched, none of their offsprings could survive their Wild Breaths. Perhaps it was supremely bad luck, or perhaps their Wild Breaths were simply too powerful for any child to bear, but Hinod was growing very weary of having hope that the next batch of eggs could survive, only to be crushed when they all died.

Outside the nursery, a detachment of the elves' finest and oldest warriors, the Yára Ohtatyaro, stood vigilant for any threat. These elves were the most religious zealots, and scrutinized even their own people when it comes to the security of the Dragon Emperor and his mate. While their old age dulled their skill and reflexes a bit, they are unrivaled in combat experience. Hinod didn't know what to do with retired warriors in the past, and so decided to ask them to volunteer to be his personal bodyguards. Every warrior jumped at the chance. Hinod also couldn't help but notice how the requirements to become a part of the Yára Ohtatyaro were becoming more and more stringent as the years go by. While this meant the guard detail grew more and more skilled, it also meant more and more elves died a warrior's death trying to become a part of this exclusive club. Not wanting to impede in the elves' decision process, Hinod decided to hand over this problem to his future self, if the problem ever became too dire.

The guards took one look at Hinod and bowed deeply, parting their spears to allow Hinod through without a word. The guards inside swiftly moved to defend their charge, but stood down when they realized Hinod was coming in. At the center were a dozen dragon eggs, and sitting there, curled around them in a protective stance, was the most beautiful dragon Hinod had ever laid his eyes on, Yuvon Faraan. Her platinum scales shined as if they were made from moonlight, and her slender body betrayed her frail strength. Even when she wasn't child rearing, her body was very weak even for a dragon, but her Wild Magic rivaled even Hinod's own power. Hinod was afraid that she would die from childbirth one day, and wouldn't know what to do with himself if that would happen. That's why he decided to devote all of his Yára Ohtatyaro to the servitude and care, on top of bodyguard duty, of her. It definitely wasn't because their constant presence and intense stares made him very nervous.

"Need I ask how the eggs are, my dear?"

Yuvon smiled meekly.

"If they were hatching, I'd send one of the Ohtatyaro to you, just like every other time, my love."

Hinod glanced briefly at the old warrior elves around him.

"Ah... Of course. Well, I wonder whose scale they would take on? So far, we've seen more golden scaled babies than platinum... of those that hatched, of course."

"Really? I counted more platinum than gold."

Hinod let out a roaring laugh.

"Perhaps their scales are too young for us to tell, my dear! But I tell you, my nose tell me they're more gold than platinum!"

"Then we shall let a third party decide. Ohtatyaro, who is correct?"

The various elves around them shuffled around, uneasy about the question that presented itself to them. In their point of view, it was like if the two gods they worshipped were arguing with each other about a complex, divine topic, and they were asked to judge who was more correct. After a moment of awkward silence, one brave warrior spoke up.

"I believe they were born in equal numbers, O Great Lords."

The two dragons looked at each other and burst out laughing, much to the confusion of the soldiers around them.

"Ah! They speak the truth! My dear, to tell you the truth, I hope that the next one shall be one with platinum scales as beautiful as yours, but with a body and soul as powerful as mine!"

"Of course, my love. Now, run along. Today's an important day for you."

One of the warriors called out to the entrance guards as Hinod made a move to leave.

"Make way! His Golden Lordship, master of the sunrise and everywhere its light touches, is leaving!"

—

Pakuri touched down on the entrance area of the Platinum Palace with practiced ease. Yasilithi could tell Pakuri had already done this countless times before. One could tell the new retainers from the old ones based on how well prepared they were for this trial, and Yasilithi did not spot many. In fact, of all the southern-ish dragons, Yasilithi was the only one who fumbled with his flight. However, when the other retainers and their guards looked over, about to let out a mocking joke, they saw who he served, and recognized the Knight's iconic magma-red scales, and instantly clammed up.

No slave from any domain, Great House or not, were permitted to set foot on the sacred land of the Platinum Palace. Instead, every dragon had to serve themselves. The elves there only served the Dragon Emperor, and would not bend the knee to anyone else. Still, they were to be treated as honored guests, and as such, the elves would courteously serve as guides and such when needed. Yasilithi was shocked at how many elves were around, and how powerfully built they all were. Some even had equipment that made his nose tingle with greed. He could tell that their gold armor and gold weapons were of extremely high quality.

The land looked less a Palace for the Dragon Emperor and more like an elven city. Trees of various size and shape grew everywhere, as if this were a Titan's garden, and were shaped in a way that was livable for the elves. Beautiful statues of a dragon and various elves dotted the land in various colors, from statues made entirely of adamantite, to stain glass art made from diamond, topaz, sapphire, and other gemstones, to beautiful mithril spheres emitting a ghostly light and radiating warmth. Elves wandered to and fro in this heavenly slice of land, with children happily playing around, some with exotic pets, and the adults maintaining the beautiful nature all around them. If Yasilithi strained his ears, his senses could tell him that there were elves training hard very far away in the distance. Yasilithi took this all in, and thought back to home, and how shabby this place made it feel in comparison. Vorun looked at Yasilithi, and chuckled.

"I felt the same way when I first saw this myself. But this just speaks volumes about the Dragon Emperor's might. Such is his wealth that he could even give his slaves a good life. Anyways, don't let the sight clip your wings. Come, let us proceed to the Hall."

Yasilithi nodded, and followed his Brother Knights' lead to the Ritual Hall. It appeared that the entire Palace was made from copious amounts of platinum, and strengthened and maintained with Wild Magic, as far as Yasilithi's nose could tell him. Even the interior walls was composed of platinum, and decorated with elvish art. The air smelled of trees and flowers, probably because plant life also dominated the Palace, and the decor felt very calm and soothing. Mithril spheres also dotted this area, shining brightly like the spheres down in the Golden City. They led to a massive hall that was slowly filling up with dragons of all sizes and shapes. This entire time, every retainer pulled their Tribute, but every retainer casted a new lightened gravity spell with the small radius of influence emanating from their own bodies, so they could pull with ease.

Pakuri settled opposite a band of extremely large dragons, each larger than even Teverin, at around 70 meters tall. Yasilithi couldn't help but gawk at them, because he's never seen a dragon that could dwarf Pakuri, much less Teverin, but these dragons clearly stood head and shoulders above everyone else. He was also very confused, because despite their size, he didn't feel that they were too powerful. He could tell that they were strong, but he did not feel as if they were any stronger than his fellow Knights, despite their size. Their biggest dragon, a female retainer, seemed to be about as strong as Pakuri, as far as Yasilithi could tell. Vorun noticed Yasilithi staring at them, and laughed.

"Ah! I didn't tell you about the Great House of the North, did I? Yes, they are House Japeto, and the very big one right there is Coeliss Japeto, mate of their House patriarch, Fonaarven. They are not known to be terribly talkative, but I have come to know a couple of them over the centuries."

"Great House? Do you mean to say they rival the Loern in strength?"

"Mmm... well, that's debatable. I've personally never seen them in battle. But they're a Great House for a reason, no? Best to keep your wits with you, and assume that they're as strong as you say."

Yasilithi nodded.

"Oh, yes, remember the legend of Unslaad Lok-Bo? Apparently, they worship that dragon."

"Their religion is strange. As strange as the humans of the East."

"They probably think the same about our religion, Yasilithi. Don't mind it too much."

Soon, they also saw the serpent-like dragons of the East floating... or perhaps crawling their way into the Hall and plopping down to the rightmost side of the room, relative to Pakuri's position. They stared coldly at Pakuri, and one of them whispered to the largest and seemingly most powerful of the rest of them while pointing to Yasilithi and Vorun. Pakuri, in turn, paid them no attention, choosing to focus on one part of the room.

When the last of the dragons trickled in with their Tribute in tow, everyone hushed down to a murmur, and waited. Everyone sat in a long oval, with a large, empty space in the middle. Soon, the guest of honor, the Dragon Emperor, arrived, flanked by elves in the same golden armor that tickled Yasilithi's nose, allowing Yasilithi to see him for the first time. He was shocked at how small their emperor looked, but could sense a deep feeling of power emanating from the dragon's soul. His golden scales glimmered under the pale light of the mithril spheres as he took his place in a perch high above everyone else. His elves positioned themselves underneath him, and stood at attention. His gaze swept around the entire Hall with regal might, as if he was looking into the eyes of every subject. They lingered on the spots where Great Houses took, finally resting on where House Pruina should've been. He flared his wings in a kingly manner, very much impressing Yasilithi of His Majesty's royal bearing.

"Greetings. For the newcomers, I am Emperor Hinod Aur Faraan. Welcome to the Tribute Ritual."

He paused, allowing his subjects to absorb his words.

"I hope no one else will follow House Pruina's footsteps and skip on the Tribute."

He spoke in a very soft, but commanding tone. The underlying message of his words was a threat to those who would dare defy his orders, erasing any doubt of his opinion of House Pruina's absenteeism.

"Any House affiliated with Pruina shall be expected to contribute more for the Tribute, to pay for Pruina's absence, from now on. I feel that is a fair exchange."

And with that, the Dragon Emperor has effectively cut any support or sympathy any Dragon Lord may have harbored for House Pruina. Yasilithi felt nothing but deep respect for the simplicity at which the Dragon Emperor dealt with the situation. Pakuri, on the other hand, couldn't help but smirk at how well things were already developing for House Loern. Several retainers shifted uneasily, noting to return home to tell their patriarchs the news. House Japeto remained blank in expression, mirroring the majority of the other retainers there. House Furtim looked slightly sour, but otherwise didn't react much.

"Now... let us begin. House Sivaan, please present your tribute."

"Yes! We have brought you two hundred of our Dragon Eggs, standard gold! We have also added a gift of finely cut ruby gems! The chest itself is made of dragon-forged steel, with silver plating! Please accept our Tribute."

A small band of dragons, probably from a very small and minor territory, presented their Tribute, chest and all, to the Dragon Emperor.

"Mmm. I am pleased with your Tribute. Please, place it at the center of the Hall."

The other houses presented Tributes similar to the first. The first of the Great Houses, House Japeto, presented extremely unique and rare items, like cloud gems, which was as light as a cloud, glowed with a soft light when placed under the sun, and could be made only by condensing special clouds with Wild Magic. They also had solid rain drops, which were solid pellets of rain, but never broke free from the clouds. It was unclear how phenomenon was formed, but it only happens rarely high in the sky, farther up than where normal dragons could normally go. Finally, they presented giant, crystallized snowflakes which never melts. This is another rare phenomenon that can only be found in certain high mountains and glaciers. These rare and valuable gifts piqued the Dragon Emperor's interest, and he thanked them for presenting such rare gifts to him as tribute. Their chest was made of normal solid gold.

The next of the Great Houses, House Furtim, presented fine gemstones, of which a large quantity was jade gemstones. They had seastones, a rare gemstone that could only be found in the deepest areas of the sea. It was a stone that seemed to be composed entirely of water, but pressurized into a solid due to the extremities of the vast ocean. They also presented mithril and gold Dragon Eggs. Their chest interior was made of jade, and the exterior was made of emerald.

Finally, it was House Loern's turn. While the Loern did not have any special and rare resource they could present to the Dragon Emperor, they made up in sheer volume of valuable metals and gems. Teverin spared no expense in his tribute. The vast majority of the Tribute was silver, gold and platinum Dragon Eggs, but there were also blue diamond Dragon Eggs, the rarest form of diamond in the world, and only found in the deepest parts of active volcanoes, of which Yasilithi and his kin could easily survive in. They also had regular diamond, emerald, sapphire, ruby, mithril, orichalcum, and adamantite Dragon Eggs. There were also a couple of white iron Dragon Eggs, an extremely rare metal found only in the deepest parts of caves. Their entire chest is made of adamantite.

After the ritual, the Dragon Emperor thanked everyone for their Tribute, and bid them all a safe trip home. Before a he flew away, Pakuri bowed and request a private audience with the Emperor, and after a brief moment with her, flew away, elves following closely behind.

Pakuri returned with triumph on her face.

"I have secured us enough time after the Tribute to wait for our relief force. The only thing left is to hope they are safe."

She glanced at her Knights, and finally rested on Yasilithi and Vorun.

"Let us move back to our Mountain. Sun and Night Bearer. Lead the way."

—

With the absence of the other dragons, the Golden City felt less hectic and busy. Dragon life for its citizens fell back to normal, and the streets weren't so clogged up with visiting slaves bumbling about, lost on where ever they needed to go. Every dragon avoided one area though, because of their intimidating guards and their reputation. The Loern Mountain was still occupied, but no one in the city, dragon or slave, could figure out why. They dare not ask though, because the dragons rarely venture out.

Yasilithi looked down at the glowing city, wondering when he can relieve his boredom. They had waited for two days, but there was no sign of any relief in sight. He was honestly starting to get worried about the welfare of his brothers. He could imagine them dead or slowly dying amongst a pile of dead bandits, which made him want to fly off on his own to search for them. The only thing stopping him was Pakuri, who ordered every Knight to stay close to her. The slaves were also growing restless, as their food supply dwindled by the day. They were not meant to stay for an extended trip, and so rations had to be hastily made. They had done some scouting, and reported peculiar movements of gold ore shipments from underground, under the watchful eye of gold-skinned elves. Yasilithi didn't think much of it. Pakuri thought the same. Who cared about mere gold?

At last, they could see, in the distance, the silhouettes of a small band of dragons flying towards the city. They ignored the golden gates at the southern entrance, flying directly to the Loern Mountain. The Dragon Emperor's soldiers didn't seem to care either, as if they were notified about the arrival of these dragons. Yasilithi noticed their arrival, and could recognize some of his Brothers and Sisters. Excited, he turned around and shouted to the others.

"They have arrived! The Twins' reinforcements!"

There was a rush of commotion as the others flew out to greet their relief force. They were finally ready to go home. The arriving dragons stopped and perched around the artificial mountain. They looked slightly tired from the journey, but not exhausted. All in all, Pakuri's total detail now numbered 31, the largest concentration of military force Pakuri has ever seen. She was very delighted to have additional company, and after allowing the other Knights a brief moment to rest, they all set off again.

Yasilithi turned to one of his fellow Knight.

"Did you encounter any bandits?"

She shook her head, with a slightly confused and concerned expression on her face.

"No. The Twins has warned us about this supposed swarm, but we have not encountered them. They said we were supposed to expect heavy resistance on our way here, and to expect casualties. But if we do not encounter any swarm, then the return trip shall be the hard one, because..."

She glanced at Pakuri.

"If Lady Pakuri suffers even a slight wound, we shall all suffer."

This was a warning that Yasilithi understood very well. He then made a mental note to defend Pakuri with his last dying breath if it came to that. Another Knight pipped up.

"Still, we have the Sun and Night Bearers with us, who are even stronger than we Knights. Even if we are badly outnumbered, we are strong and they are weak. I have confidence in our victory."

Pakuri shook her head, overhearing the conversation.

"The loss of any Knight is badly felt in Strunmahsahsun. Don't be overconfident, and don't be careless. If what I heard about the battle is true, we have already lost too many Knights as it is."

The other Knights nodded.

After a half a day of flying, they rested and hunted for food, before setting off again without incident. However, when the reached close to the border of the Dragon Emperor's domain... they noticed a change in the air. The landscape transformed back to shaggy mountains that dotted the land. The land had sheer drops into the earth, providing many hiding spots for ambushers. Every Knight was in high tension. Their slaves below them also felt the change in the air, and readied their weapons. Then, just as some slaves finished drawing their swords, rocks all around them exploded, pulverizing some of the slaves and temporarily immobilizing their cave troll champions. Large forms the shape of dragons flew into the sky, dozens at a time, targeting Pakuri, but were stopped by a fluid wall of red. Yasilithi saw one coming his way, and with a swipe of his claw, easily freed the head from its owner. Vorun sprang into action, ordering every Knight to aim at a dragon, and unleash fury. 31 jets of lava-hot flames plumed in the night sky, igniting the air, and many bodies fell to the ground, charred beyond recognition. Even the tough scale of a dragon cannot save them from the fury of a Loern Knight, and yet, the bandits kept pouring out.

"Avenge the true Loern heir! His death shall not be in vain! Hail Sa-"

One of the bandits shouted in battle, before Yasilithi shot forward to pulverize him.

"Master Teverin said his brother shall die a nameless dragon, and so he shall remain so!"

Yasilithi snarled at the enemy, who hesitated to attack him, despite the fact that he separated himself from the swarm of Knights. Perhaps they were hesitant to attack a Knight, who were known to kill until their last dying breath. Perhaps they recognized him as the Sun Bearer during the Battle for the Mountain City, who distinguished himself even while the Loern were fighting. Or perhaps they were simply cowed by his vicious snarl, and the ease at which he could kill ancient dragons. Whatever the case, they just flew there, looking at Yasilithi with a stupid look on their faces, Vorun did not miss this opportunity.

"The enemy is confused! CHARGE!"

By now, their cave trolls had regenerated enough to fight, and readied their bows to fire on weak, critical joints of a dragon. They managed to get a couple of volleys off before being pulverized by dragons again. Because of their discipline, and confidence in their regenerative powers, the trolls would not break even if they were hacked apart over and over again. However, they had achieved their aim of distracting the enemy, and before the bandits could react, they heard Vorun sound the charge. The wall of red that shielded Pakuri suddenly became a fast, mobile battering ram that could change direction at will. It smashed into the weakest area of the swarm, where Yasilithi distracted and slaves fired, and caused many dragons to fall, dead before they hit the ground, and a greater many to rout.

Another swarm closed in on Pakuri, but they seemed to forget that Pakuri was a chosen mate of Teverin, and was not weak by herself at all. Breathing her own fury, her claw and tail lashes surprised the enemy, causing them to fall back in panic, only to get smashed from the side by the red battering ram.

Vorun surveyed the battlefield, and sensed that enough of the enemy had ran away, and issued another order.

"The enemy is breaking! Knights, fan out! Exterminate them all!"

With an UUOOOOAHHHH!, every Knight charged into the fray without a care for their own lives. Yasilithi, in full battle rage mode, searched and destroyed any dragon that did not have deep red or pitch black scales.

In the aftermath of the battle, no Knight had died, but a couple had sustained serious wounds that they only noticed after the battle had concluded. In contrast, the enemy laid dead, dying, or had fled the battlefield, with no will to fight again. While Pakuri's guard detail flew at a much slower capacity now, they had successfully survived the night, and will arrive at Odarath's city for relief, before returning home.


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

"O Emperor! O Heavenly Emperor! I bear grave news!"

A meek-looking dragon with metallic light-gold scales flew up to Emperor Hinod. He barely squeezed his last sentence out before gasping in pain. His body was flushed with sweat, as if he had flown at top speed for several hours. His eyes were bloodshot, and jumped around in fear. His wings drooped in exhaustion, useless after pushing his body to its limit. Given the distance from where he should've been and where he is now, and the timing of his arrival, he must've flown for half a day, which is impressive considering his physique. He gulped in air as he tried to get his message out. Hinod waited patiently for the dragon to regain his composure.

"I bear grave news, Emperor!"

"I heard you the first time, Hahsesiin. Are you alone? Where are the others?"

"They are still at Saak-Morwuld. But this is besides the point. We, the dragon race, are in great danger, Master Hinod!"

Baffled, Hinod stared at Hahsesiin.

"Elaborate."

"This is the year of the Star Alignment within Saak-Morwuld. The stories these stars tell us are prophetic, Master Hinod!"

"And the stars say that we face a threat? From whom?"

The dragon astrologer's face paled.

"That's the thing... I can no longer see our future. After a certain point in time, Wild Magic ceases to be. Do you not get it? What makes us dragon no longer exists in the future!"

"What?!"

Hinod rears his back in alarm. He could not believe it. Wild Magic was a primordial type of magic. It has been a part of this world for longer than even Hinod's own father has been around. If the legend of Unslaad Lok-Bo is true, then Wild Magic has been around since the Sun and Moon first formed in the sky. This means that Wild Magic has been around for quite literally millions of years. For Wild Magic to simply disappear... It is an unbelievable assertion.

"Are you certain?"

"The stars have never lied."

"What of us? What happens to us?"

"From what we can tell..."

Hahsesiin's voice trailed off. He glanced up at Hinod before mustering the courage to continue.

"We die. Only some of us remain in the world. Beings much more powerful than we can ever imagine simply wiped us out."

"Impossible. We are the mightiest race in the world. No one can harm us except each other. If what you say is true, then we would've been hunted down and killed off eons ago. Unless you mean to say one race of dragons killed everyone off?"

Hinod thought about Teverin, and his family. The other Great Houses should've been able to keep his power in check.

"No. We, as in the entire race of dragons, die off."

Hinod shook his head. This simply cannot be true.

"Hahsesiin... This joke has gone too far. Not when my son has just been born."

"I... I wish I could say I was making a joke, Master Hinod..."

Hinod stared at Hahsesiin with an intense glare. The smaller dragon winced away, cowed by the powerful gaze, but held firm. He was telling the truth. Still, this is news that is too unreal to believe. Who could imagine dragons, the strongest race in the world, to be completely and utterly destroyed? That Wild Magic, the most fundamental part of the world, and the lifeblood of dragonkind, simply stop existing? And yet, the prophetic stars have spoken.

"So... My son's birth marks not only the happiest time of my life, but also the doom of our race."

"Ah... Congratulations on the birth of your son, Master Hinod. Have you decided his name?"

The swing in topic was very swift, as if Hahsesiin wanted to talk about a happier topic. Hinod decided to take the bait. He was, after all, a very proud father.

"Yes. Tsaindorcus Vaision. I gave the first name. Yuvon gave the last, which is her maiden House's name. After all, we gave birth to a healthy, spry platinum-scaled dragon."

"Oooh... shame it wasn't a gold-scale dragon, milord."

Hinod chuckled.

"Oh, no, I'm glad he took on his mother's beautiful scales. I have a feeling that I will be a proud father..."

Hinod fell silent, and turned away from Hahsesiin.

"You must not tell anyone else. Only you and your team may know. Not even my mate can know."

Hahsesiin instantly knew what Hinod was talking about, and bowed.

"As you wish, Master Hinod, but may I inquire why?"

"No one will believe you, and they will believe that I employ imbeciles as astrologers."

"What about the elves that surround us?"

Hinod looked around. His elven guard stood at attention, stock still and ready for his command.

"They will not open their mouths. Even when my mate asks them what happened today. They serve me over Yuvon. Am I right, elves?"

They all shouted "YES, O GREAT LORD!" in unison. They will sooner die than disobey Hinod.

"I... I also cannot let my son... My precious son... Die."

"Master Hinod... You must use your magic. The power to grant wishes. It can change even the prophetic powers of the star."

"The soul cost would be too draining... Even for me. Even if I were to sacrifice everything in my treasury, the lives of all my elves, the Palace itself... I would not have enough soul to change a prophecy."

"But... But what else can we do?"

Hinod didn't immediately answer. Hahsesiin could tell that Hinod was desperately trying to think of a wish that did not cost too much soul.

"Yes... Hm. How long do we have before we..."

Hinod couldn't finish the sentence. Even now, he still couldn't fully believe it.

"The stars tell their stories far into the future, about 1,000 years forward. Draconic futures rapidly decline after about 500 years into the future."

"500 years... I have 500 years to prepare for this. I must stockpile enough wealth..."

Hinod looked at his elves.

"And, if need be... yes, if it's for my son, then I'll also sacrifice my elves to save him. Unless I..."

Hinod concentrated within himself, and his eyes lit up.

"Yes! I can still save my son!"

—

Hahsesiin had flown back to the Great Tornado to reverify his discoveries as well as gleam as much details as he could from the stars. Hinod headed toward his nursery, where his exhausted mate is spending time with their child. The Yára Ohtatyaro stood vigilant against all threats, this time for both mother and son. They let Hinod through without another word.

Hinod found his son playfully bounding about, testing his wings and playing with his mother. He saw Hinod coming, and chirped, racing towards his father with unbridled energy, like a streaking ball of platinum. Warmth and affection flooded Hinod, and he wanted to protect his adorable little dragonling from the menace of the outside world. As a father, he was willing to sacrifice the world to save his child, and his resolve strengthened. He looked at his mate, who gave him a tired smile.

"I'll start training him after a couple of days' rest."

Hinod returned the smile.

"I... I just can't believe it. He was the only one to survive the Wild Breath. Our Tsaindorcus-"

"Tsaindorcus is a mouthful to say, my love. I think I'll just call him Tsa."

The baby raced around them and jumped about, trying to mimic his father and fly. His underdeveloped wings fluttered desperately. When it heard "Tsa", it stopped and perked up, and looked at its mother.

"Ah... Mmm. As you say, my dear. He seems to like it. Tsa it is."

"Tsa has been a little bundle of joy. Ever since we gave him our Wild Breath, his energy doesn't seem to ever ebb. I think he takes on that part from you, my love."

"You give me too much credit, my dear. Now... I wish to have some father-son time with him. After all, you've been with him for the whole day. I just want to spend a couple of minutes."

Yuvon got up and stretched.

"Take as long as you want. I'll take a walk around the Elven Garden. I have been cooped up in here for too long, and I wish to see the sun again. Perhaps I'll roar at it too, like the strange southern dragon tradition, hmm?"

Chuckling, she walked off, with her elven entourage trailing her. Tsa didn't seem to notice his mother leave, as he was busy gnawing at his father's claws.

Hinod looked down at the little baby, and casted his spell. It was the ultimate Wild Magic, the wish-maker spell, and was extremely taxing on the soul. Any normal dragon who could cast this would've killed themselves by over-draining their soul, but Hinod's soul was by far much larger than any other dragon in the world. And yet, the spell he casted still taxed his soul. It would dangerously bring his soul down to nigh-exhaustion, but it was worth the risk. Hinod felt slightly dizzy after casting his spell, fighting off the urge to vomit. His son's destiny was safe... For now. He had wished for his son to live for as long as the stars could tell the future. That was the limit before the spell would've killed him.

Tired, Hinod sat down, and stroke his son's back, while letting him gnaw on his finger. He hoped that his son would grow up to be a good and fair dragon.

—

A History of the True Dragon Lords

? years ago, the first dragons discovered Wild Magic, and took the world from its previous owners, the primordial elemental lords, who could shape the elements of the world to their whims. It could be said that one of the original rulers of the world betrayed its own kind to grant and teach the dragons the secrets of Wild Magic, inadvertently making them much more powerful than anticipated. While the primordials were still more powerful than the dragons, the dragons vastly outnumbered them. They were eventually wiped out, and all traces erased. The first Dragon Emperor rose from the ashes of civil war, and an uneasy peace was held. The Loern ancestor Dragon Emperor came next, and every Dragon Emperor after him ruled with an iron fist. Unslaad Lok-Bo, as the Heavenly Dragon Lord is now known as, was born around this time.

15,000 years ago, Teverin Loern was born. At this time period, a multitude of other amazingly powerful Dragons were born, for some reason, including Hinod Aur Faraan. Only a few survived to current day.

10,000 years ago, Teverin attempted to kill the Dragon Emperor, and succeeded, but was not able to take the throne. It was rumored that he fought Hinod afterwards for the right to rule, and lost, but only Teverin and Hinod could know the full story. Teverin inexplicably grew more powerful after the regicide.

6,000 years ago, Pakuri and Teverin fought for dominance. Pakuri lost, became one of Teverin's mates, and successfully gave birth to worthwhile children. The other mates were killed off.

Current day, the events of Yasilithi Ragrivin's adventure. Certain dragons were born this day that survived a great calamity in the future. One of them had scales of platinum, one of them was born in the darkness, and sleeps in the darkness, and one of them was a coward.

400 years later, the Dragon Emperor stockpiled enough wealth to summon the first World Class Item, the Ouroboros, in an attempt to wish for more powerful weapons to fight against the incoming threat. Instead, the Six Great Gods arrived into the New World, and established a human stronghold in what was left of House Pruina territory. They used the Ouroboros to auto-translate the world. This is a story for another time. By this time, Teverin was almost successfully able to conquer most of Pruina held lands. Being denied the rest of it left a sour taste in his mouth.

500 years later, the Eight Greed Kings arrived into the New World, bringing with them Eryuentiu, a flying castle from which always flowed out fresh water, as well as 30 NPC Guardians. They killed Surshana, the God of Death, and used the Five Elements Overcoming to change the world's magic from Wild Magic to YGGDRASIL's tiered magic. This sparked a war with the dragons, as this doomed all dragons born to be Unbreathed. The Dragon Emperor's son survived the conflict. The Dragon Emperor and his mate, however, died by the hands of his own subjects in retaliation for bringing the Eight Greed Kings. Yasilithi, his fellow Knights, and the Loern were one of the first to fall in battle. This, too, is a story for another time. On a side note, an exceptionally bright dragon managed to hide away from conflict, and began experimenting with granting Wild Magic to lesser creatures.

600 years later, the last of the Eight Greed Kings lay dead, with the New World forever shaped by the civil war between the Greed Kings. The Dragon Emperor's son resides in Euryentiu, to guard against other entities using its power to conquer the world.

700 years later, a player died to the Deep Dark Dragon Lord, who does nothing but sleeps deep in his cave. He also acquired one of the Twenty.

800 years later, the Platinum Dragon Lord, as Hinod's son is now known as, makes friends with some of the lesser races, as they rush to save the world from the menace of the Demon Gods. Tsaindorcus Vaision yearns for friends, and found it in the form of the Thirteen Heroes. A certain dragon wiped out entire countries, and turned their citizens into zombies while stealing their souls. He died to a group of heroes, particularly to a dragon with platinum scales.

1,000 years later, the arrival of Momonga and Nazarick marked a new turning point in the New World's history. Hinod's wish that his son would survive has expired. The Platinum Dragon Lord's life is now decided on a roll of the dice.

—

Ainz, majestically perched on top of Hamsuke, beheld the massive Tob Forest. Aura had excitedly [Messaged] him about a discovery that he needed to see within Tob. Riding with him was his escort, Mare, who wrapped his tiny arms around his waist, tightly hugging him. Ainz felt very self conscious about his skeletal frame, and was worried that Mare would be very uncomfortable with hugging nothing but his ribs and spine. At the same time, he had to behave regally the entire ride, which meant he had to treat any potential discomfort with royal indifference. Fortunately, Ainz couldn't hear any subtle complaints from Mare, and Hamsuke had learned to move in a way that didn't cause much discomfort for her masters.

Ainz wondered what could possibly warrant such a reaction from Aura. He had tasked her to finally come around to exploring the large underground cave network within the Tob Forest. While he would've loved to come along for the exploration, as he had with the Great Rift in the Azerlisia Mountains, he was extremely busy with ruling his kingdom these days. In the past, he would just stamp everything that Albedo and Demiurge proposed with his approval, but after a certain incident, he had to meticulously review everything they gave him for the day. This drastically cut short the amount of free time he had, as he had to read everything slowly, over and over again, until he understood the contents. The original idea was that they gave him simplified summaries meant for him to review quickly, but he quickly found out that Albedo and Demiurge left out too much in the assumption that Ainz already planned out and knew everything. Fed up with constant confusion about what they were referring to, Ainz ordered them to give him their full proposals before stamping his approval. This gave Ainz many days of imaginary headaches, as he struggled to understand complex, legal language, and the accommodations for the many cultures his vast kingdom now encompasses.

However, slowly, Ainz began to learn and adapt, and now, he can confidently say that he can skim through the usual nonsense and stamp with speed. While Ainz still wasn't comfortable with his skills as a ruler, he could probably be a good legal scholar within his own borders. He also had the added benefit of using his personal maid for the day as a second pair of eyes. While thinking of a way to give his maids, who he thought of as extremely hard working daughters of his beloved friends, a way to have some time off, inspiration struck him. Ainz proposed that all maid activities were to stop work for two weeks, and they were all to learn the Sorcerous Kingdom law so that they can better serve him while he worked. The two weeks were a vacation that Ainz desperately needed, although for a while, Ainz had to fend off Albedo's attempts to be his temporary personal maid. Now, he was able to give his maids weekends off, to study new and updated laws. Naturally, the maids threw themselves into the work handed to them by their Supreme Being, in an effort to best aid him. Albedo and Demiurge didn't like the proposal at first, because they believed that Ainz was flawless and couldn't possibly make mistakes, but Ainz told them that a redundant system of checks would make any law ironclad. They were skeptical, but in the end relented. Secretly, Ainz enjoyed having the weekends off with no attending maid constantly staring at him while he decompressed, and so it was a win-win for both sides.

Lately, Ainz considered allowing Pandora's Actor to occasionally switch places with him, but he feared that Pandora's Actor may do something strange while he pretended to be Momon once more. He also had to study all the connections Pandora's Actor made while as Momon to ensure a flawless switch, which would be a hassle that Ainz didn't want to bother with. Still, as Ainz's influence grows in E-Rantel, Momon's presence was required less and less. Perhaps Ainz can have a true vacation one day as Momon in the future.

As Hamsuke swiftly moved through the forest with practiced ease, as if she knew the forest like the back of her own paws, Ainz grew more excited about Aura's discovery. He didn't find anything exciting in the Great Rift, only a large deposit of what the dwarves called "white iron", so perhaps the caves in Tob was different. Mare told Ainz that his sister had found mushroom people in the past after a cursory glance in the caves. She determined that they didn't have anything of valuable, so perhaps Aura found deposits of Prismatic Ores. If she did, Ainz would immediately send a detachment of Nazarick's military might and kill or subjugate all living beings in the cave networks, in an effort to fully control the mines. He would then set up constant surveillance around the ores and perhaps try to hide its existence from the world. Ainz wanted to see if he could reproduce another Caloric Stone if he ever got his hands on a cache of Prismatic Ores.

Eventually, Hamsuke reached the caves. Ainz jumped off in his excitement, and reached up to gently pick up Mare and set him down besides him. Mare blushed, and shyly looked up at Ainz.

"Th-Thank you, Ainz-sama!"

Swamped with Mare's genuine and pure, child-like gratitude, it somewhat calmed Ainz down, and he extended his hands in what he thought was a king-like movement.

"Think nothing of it, Mare."

Ainz told Hamsuke to stay put at the entrance, and he and Mare descended into the caves, following a trail that Aura set for them. While it was very dark within the caves, both had Dark Vision, so the caves were as bright as the afternoon sun from their point of view. Occasionally, mushrooms that emit a soft, blue glow dotted the cave walls, but those were far and few in between, and didn't provide much light. They passed through several small tribes of myconid, who scattered when they came close. They emitted squishing sounds, which mildly annoyed Ainz.

Soon, they came upon another tiny figure, with clothes and a face that matched Mare, Aura. She excitedly waved at them, and knelt in respect to Ainz once they came close. Mare ran to her side and knelt as well. While Ainz was used to this by now, he still felt quite annoyed that his Guardians did this, as he felt he didn't deserve this level of servitude. However, he understood that this was one of the many ways his Guardians wanted to display their loyalty, so he could not fault them for doing this. After telling them to raise their heads twice, they rose up. Aura led him to her discovery.

"Tada! Look what I found, Ainz-sama!"

Ainz's empty eye sockets blinked twice, although it simply looked as if his red dots disappeared and reappeared rapidly. All he saw was a suit of intricately designed gold armor, nestled inside the rocks, surrounded by mushrooms, plant matter, and glowing rocks. Where was the prismatic ores?

Before he could ask what he was supposed to be looking at, the suit of armor glowed, and began to speak.

"Greetings, oh mighty God of Death. I remember you from so long ago, when your kind still made deals with my kind. When this child said that you were alive..."

Ainz opened and closed his mouth unconsciously. He had no idea how to respond. He turned to Aura. She gave a mischievous smile.

"Your name... I remember... It was Surshana? I thought you had died... But it's true. To you, gods who came from a land called YGGDRASIL, death is but a mere state of existence. Something even we dragons cannot control."

Still shocked by this development of mistaken identity, Ainz was left speechless. He started to wonder what sort of lies Aura spewed at this suit of armor. And did it just call itself a dragon?

"I believe my subordinate was not entirely truthful to you. I am not the one you call Surshana. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, the King of the Sorcerous Kingdom. But, indeed, one can say that I am the God of Death. Perhaps I am mistaken, but you call yourself a dragon, yet all I see is a suit of armor?"

"Yes... I am Yuvon Faraan, mate to the Dragon Emperor. Before my death, I was able to transfer the rest of my soul into this armor, and escape death. I fled far from my home, and ended up here, trapped for... I do not know for how long."

It was hard to tell if the suit of armor was telling the truth or not. This could merely be an elaborate trap setup. However, if it was, Aura would've detected anyone lurking in this vicinity, and Ainz's anti-divination spell didn't indicate that he was being spied upon. Therefore, there should be some truth to its words. Ainz then asked the next question in his mind.

"I do not know of any spell that is capable of transferring one's soul into another. Are dragons capable of casting Super Tiered spells?"

"Super tiered spells...? No, we dragons wield Wild Magic. Your tiered spells corrupt and distort the natural balance of the world. Our magic utilizes the strength of our souls, although I am no longer capable of casting spells without my body alive anymore."

Ainz's value meter for this suit of armor suddenly spiked. If the armor is telling the truth, then there is evidence of a new type of magic that he has never heard of. Even if it cannot cast any spells, Ainz learned from his time in YGGDRASIL that information on a spell was almost as useful as having the spell.

"And the soul transfer is a type of Wild Magic? Can anyone else use this spell?"

"Yes. I am living proof, although I do not know if any other dragon is capable of this spell. I know my own son is capable of doing this to a certain extent..."

This was the proof Ainz needed. While it wasn't a discovery that he wanted, it was a discovery that he felt was still quite valuable. He had seen this spell before, and the armor will provide extremely valuable information. He ordered Aura and Mare to dig up the armor, and contacted Shalltear with [Message] to open a gate back to E-Rantel. This will require further investigation.

Nazarick grows ever more powerful.

End


	8. Afterword

Afterword

I hope you guys enjoyed my little story. Fun fact, the timeline is (mostly) true, to the best of my knowledge. The writing is a bit sloppy, I get it, but I hope it was forgivable.

I wanted to write about the dragons because I wanted to see something different. I decided to try and make my story a believable take on what the Age of Dragons looked like. A fellow Overlord fanatic from the Overlord Discord server, Ziggy, has been a big help in understanding the origins of Maruyama's take on dragons. Thanks, Ziggy!

There are a few underlying assumptions that I have about the New World during the Age of Dragons, as speculated by some of us in the Discord server. Namely, one is that levels did not exist prior to the arrival of the Six Great Gods. This is because we assume that the New World was organic, and strength was not a set of quantifiable stats that one can measure. Another assumption we had made was that the undead did not exist in the New World prior to the arrival of the Six Great Gods. I had learned of this theory after I had worked on Chapter 3, which had put a slight wrench in my plans. If you thought Chapter 3 wasn't very good, I apologize! I had to make a lot of changes. Chapter 3 also had a mistake about introducing a shadow dragon, which theoretically shouldn't exist in Maruyama's New World, but it was the best way for me to adjust the story. The shadow dragon existed in my original plan, but he wasn't supposed to be revealed.

I won't be writing about the actual fights between the Eight Greed Kings and the dragons. I don't want to make eight characters that was not faithful to the actual canon lore, and the fact that Maruyama has never released much information about the players who made the most impact on the New World makes this all the more aggravating.

In terms of strength, if my dragons existed in the NW of today, the leaders of the Four Great Houses would be over level 100. These phenomenally powerful dragons were the "True" Dragon Lords of their time, with strengths nigh unrivaled. Had they banded together, perhaps even the Eight Greek Kings wouldn't have stood a chance. Hinod is also over level 100. Does he remind you of anyone? Yasilithi and his fellow Knights are all in the level 90-95 range. They would've put up a good fight against players, but alas, they lack skills and talent in Wild Magic to ever truly defeat a player. They're probably more akin to high level mobs in YGGDRASIL. The average strength of normal dragons range from level 75-85. They're strong enough to overpower any other race in the world, but never strong enough to raise up to Lordship. Keep in mind that these are just my personal estimates, and that the dragons don't actually have any levels. A stronger dragon can certainly die to a weaker dragon in combat. This was made evident when Teverin drew blood from his father, despite the supposed sheer difference in their levels, if they were in YGGDRASIL.

Speaking of Teverin and Hinod... I wonder if they actually ever fought? That's for me to know, and you to find out! Thanks for reading my little fic. Perhaps I will make another one with a proper OC of mine one day.

-Peronronchino's Dad


End file.
